


Property of Daddy

by Guzmasboi



Series: Werewolf Daddy [4]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work, werewolf - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Daddy Kink, Daddy!Kink, Dom/sub, Humans are property, Inner Wolf Takes Over Body, M/M, Mates, Mating Genes, Multiple Personalities, Original Fiction, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rogues Hate Humans, Underage - Freeform, Werewolf, Werewolf vs. Human, daddy - Freeform, rogues - Freeform, spoiled brat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-06-30 10:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15750135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guzmasboi/pseuds/Guzmasboi
Summary: Werewolves are known to the general public, resulting in humans being the subservient species.  As a federal law, humans are forced to undergo a test to see if they’re a carrier of the Mating Gene: a DNA mutation that makes a human capable of being a werewolf’s mate.  If positive, they practically become the property of their werewolf mate.Dakota, a thirteen year-old human with a serious attitude, tests positive for the Mating Gene.  The werewolf he’s paired up with is Caleb, an older man who insists Dakota calls him “Daddy”, and who strives to do nothing more than to make his new mate happy with him.  Caleb proves to be madly in love with his new mate and definitely has a major possessive streak to him.However, it soon becomes apparent that Caleb has a disorder in which his inner wolf takes control of his human body each time the sun goes down.  His wolf has one goal in mind: “Knot Mate as Soon as Possible”.Dakota’s life with Caleb gets even tougher when there’s an uprising of rogues attacking human mates.  Will Dakota continue to put up a fight with his new mate and potentially risk getting killed by the rogues, or will he give in to his new possessive Daddy for protection?[ManxBoy]





	1. INTRO + Trigger Warnings [Please Read]

****

**A/N** : Thank you so much for your interest in this story!  I’ve had this idea in my head for years and had actually written some of it down in my notebook during Chemistry class… which was why I didn’t do too well in Chemistry class.  But oh well.  Ya know, priorities.

Like my other stories, this one will incorporate Daddy!Kink into the relationship between the werewolf and the human.  I’m sorry if some of you are getting a little tired of this trope, but it’s definitely starting to become my trademark in werewolf stories.  Maybe in the future I might try one without it, but we will have to see.

The one thing with this story that I do want to put out there is that there are some underage elements in the story.  However, there will be no sexual acts between the characters until both of them are at least sixteen years or older.  Obviously, I condone waiting until one is old enough and physically/mentally ready to engage in such actions.  And of course I do not approve of people pushing themselves onto others.  These aspects are in the story simply to over-exaggerate the possessive side of werewolf relationships, which I think we can all agree is an intriguing part of Werewolf Mate stories.  

Personally, I love possessive men, so they will be all up inside my story’s guts (I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t resist).  Seriously though, as a warning, the wolf in this story will be POSSESSIVE with a capital P, straight up.

I hope you all enjoy!

*The chapter titles will be songs that I felt fit the mood of the section or that I was listening to a lot as I was writing it. Either way, I do not own the song nor the lyrics snippet. They're there simply for entertainment purposes.

**_***TRIGGERS!!!***_ **

Homosexual Relationship between Man x Boy, Mentions of Physical/Sexual Abuse, Dubious Consent, Underage in Relationship, Underaged Drinking/Drug Use, Violence

If you do not like, then please do not read/report!

If you do decide to continue, then please enjoy!

**♡Guzmasboi**


	2. Werewolf-Human Treaty of 1973

**** Werewolf-Human Treaty of 1973

 

I. _Section 1: Werewolf Government Integration_

Section 1.1.  _The Government of the United States of America concedes defeat to the Werewolf Alliance and thereby grants full and non-discriminatory rights to Werewolves as are granted to Humans._

Section 1.2.  _Each county will be presided over by an Alpha who will oversee the territory.  Alphas are non-elected and the title will be passed down through the bloodline by way of firstborns, regardless of gender identity.  If there is no further bloodline, the Beta’s bloodline will be selected for succession._

Section 1.3.  _All Humans must register with his or her Alpha, thereby indoctrinating his or her self into the Pack that controls the county in which the Human claims residency._

Section 1.4  _Humans must receive expressed written permission from his or her Alpha in order to leave his or her county along with the expressed written permission of the Alpha of the county the Human wishes to visit.  Exceptions include medical emergencies and bereavement._

Section 1.5.  _Any form of Human rebellion will result in swift and brutal action by law enforcement.  Punishment may include, but will not be limited to, imprisonment of up to ninety years, community service, or death._

Section 1.6.  _The consumption of Human flesh by a Werewolf will not be tolerated.  Punishment for violators may include, but will not be limited to, imprisonment of up to three years, community service, or the removal of the Werewolf’s Mate for a time to be determined._

Section 1.7.  _All previous local, criminal, and federal law remain intact._

 

II. _Section 2: Mates_

Section 2.1.  _All Humans, regardless of gender identity, at the age of thirteen years are required to undergo a test designed to test their compatibility as a Mate.  If positive, a separate test is designated to find the Werewolf for the Human, and once the pair is fulfilled, the Werewolf is now considered co-legal guardian for said Human._

Section 2.2. _The Human may continue to live with his or her parents/guardians until the age of eighteen in which they will be delivered to the Werewolf.  If the residencies of the Human and Werewolf are within one-hundred miles, or one-hundred sixty-one kilometers, then the Werewolf will have visitation every weekend and on alternating federal holidays.  If the residencies of the Human and Werewolf are more than one-hundred miles, or one-hundred sixty-one kilometers, apart, then the Human is required to fill out a weekly progress report to be mailed to the Werewolf every Friday.  Requirements and templates for the progress reports will be available at all public schools and post offices._

Section 2.3. _Failure of the Werewolf to return the Human to his or her legal residency within the allotted timeframe will result in a loss of visitation for a time to be determined by the county’s Alpha._

Section 2.4. _Kidnapping, or the forceable removal of a Human from his or her legal residency by fault of the Werewolf, will result in a fine of no more than $5,000.  Further punishment will be determined by the county’s Alpha if necessary._

Section 2.5. _There will be educational courses implemented in each states’ public and private schools for the purpose of integrating the Mated-Human into Werewolf culture._

Section 2.6. _Marking a Mate is hereby recognized by the Government of the United States of America as a legitimate moment and physical act in Werewolf Courting, and will thereby not be classifiable as Assault in any court, both State and Federal._

Section 2.7. _Knotting is strictly prohibited until the Human has reached the age of eighteen.  Failure to adhere will result in the temporary removal of visitation rights of the Werewolf for a time to be determined by a judge based on the age of the Human._

Section 2.8. _An Alpha may claim sole legal custody of his or her Human Mate at any time, regardless of said Human’s age.  A Beta may claim sole legal custody of his or her Human Mate with written permission from his or her Alpha.  An Omega may petition for sole legal custody of his or her Human Mate, which will be considered by the county’s Alpha in which the Human resides.  A Rogue is required to have his or her Human Mate remain with his or her legal guardians until the age of eighteen, with no exceptions._

Section 2.9. _A Rogue will not have his or her Human Mate delivered to him or her until said Rogue has completed an Alpha-approved course on Human Safety._

Section 2.10.  _Failure for the Human to be delivered to the Werewolf by fault of Human interaction will result in swift and legal action, including, but not limited to, imprisonment of up to forty years and a fine of up to $170,000,000._

Section 2.11. _There will be special law enforcement teams enacted in each county in order to assist in both the delivery of Humans to his or her Werewolf, and to help track down Humans in Hiding._

Section 2.12. _Any Humans found attempting to flee his or her Werewolf Mate or in Hiding will be caught and returned immediately to said Werewolf for his or her punishment._


	3. Clearest Blue

  **[Photo of Dakota]**

“Clearest Blue” - CHVRCHES

_Whenever I feel it coming on / You can be well aware / If ever I try to push you away / You can just keep me there_

**V●ᴥ●V**

**[Dakota, Age 13]**   
****

I love my life.

It may sound totally ripped out of some crappy TV movie that was too corny to be released in the theaters, but it’s true.  I live with my dad and his boyfriend in San Francisco County, one of the wealthiest counties in the country due in part to our location and our manufacturing of tech stuff.  I don’t pay too much attention to all of that economics crap, but I do know that my dad is a corporate lawyer for one of the many companies Downtown and his boyfriend, Enrique, is perhaps the biggest whore in the Bay Area, haha!  Needless to say, we live very comfortably.

Our three-story house in the Pacific Heights district is situated atop a hill, giving us a gorgeous view of the Bay.  Every morning, I like to peek outside my bedroom window and get an eyeful of the ocean, spotting the numerous sailboats and the occasional freighter.  On days I don’t feel like going to school, I just chill in my room and play my Switch or my PS4, or I spend endless hours online watching random videos or reading manga.  Whenever I do go to school (which doesn’t happen too often, but my dad donates a lot of money so the administration won’t dare kick me out), I enjoy hanging out with my best friends, Asher and Timothy.  The three of us have every class together and we never really pay much attention to the teachers, but it doesn’t matter because I don’t really need to go to college and get a real job.  Dad has mentioned countless times before that he’s set me up with a nice bank account that I can live off of for the rest of my life.  

I’m all set and living it up— nothing can ruin this for me.

There was a light knock on my bedroom door.  “Hey, Dakota?” came a deep voice, making me grimace.

I looked away from the glowing screen of my Mac, rubbing at my temples as I paused the anime I was watching.  “What?” I barked, annoyed that my show was being interrupted.  Don’t people know that I have big stuff going on right now? I need to finish this series so that I can start another one and break my personal record of most anime series watched in a three-day weekend: Five.

Enrique opened up my bedroom door and poked his head in, cocking his eyebrow when he noticed that I still hadn’t showered yet.  “You’re still not ready?” he frowned.

I shrugged.  “Oops,” I muttered, turning back to my Mac and pressing play on the video, the Japanese voices sounding out loud as I turned up the volume… I hate dubs, except for _Ghost Stories_ , that will forever be the best dubbing of an anime ever.

Dad’s boyfriend sighed loudly, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.  “Your appointment’s in an hour!” he cried.  “Why haven’t you gotten ready yet? Or better yet, why hasn’t Marisol gotten you dressed?”

“You fired her for using too much starch when she ironed your knockoff shirts,” I sneered, rolling my eyes.  I’d loved having Marisol around, but now that she’s gone, I have to make my own breakfast like a damn animal, *shudder.  I’m not even sure that’s legal, like, doesn’t it break child labor laws?

“It wasn’t a knockoff,” Enrique muttered, shaking his head.  He used so much gel in his hair that it stayed put like a stone when he moved.  “Just get your ass ready and be in the car in twenty.  We need to leave soon if we want to beat the traffic.”

“I’m tellin’ Dad that you said ‘Ass’,” I called out as the older man closed my bedroom door and stomped off down the hallway, muttering curse words to himself.  Yeah, he and I never quite seemed to get along mainly because I’d called him out when he and my dad had gotten together, revealing that his Armani suit had actually been a cheap knockoff from Chinatown, exposing him for the poser that he is.  Seriously, the nerve of some people…

Sighing, I stopped my video again and shoved myself away from my desk so that I could get ready and get this B.S. done and over with.  My wait time was over and I couldn’t afford to push it off any longer; I had to take that damn test to see if I carried the Mating Gene.  I’d turned thirteen eleven months and three weeks ago, and since humans are required to take the test when they’re thirteen or else (I was too nervous to ask what “Or Else” meant), my time was pretty much up.  I knew that it was silly for me to be all chicken about this, but damn!

Werewolves are fuckin’ terrifying monsters!

They were beings who had the creepy ability to turn into a giant wolf at will, but they were also much more animalistic and dangerous than my fellow humans.  Whenever a werewolf is in their human form and is trying to blend into the crowd, one can easily single them out since their eyes are a scary yellow and their canine teeth are fuckin’ massive— it looks like they’re wearing those plastic vampire fangs twenty-four/seven!  No thank you!  Not only that, but they also tend to be both taller and much more muscular than the average human, completely dwarfing us in every way possible.  

They are everywhere.

Dad had told me that when he was child, back in the Seventies when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, werewolves used to be the stuff of fiction, total fairytale creatures.  Then one day, they just came out of the dark and attacked people, starting a three month war which is now referred to as the War for Werewolf Independence.  Obviously, the human side of the conflict had their asses handed to them on a silver platter given the werewolves’ insane physical advantages.  The result of the werewolves winning was that humans were now subservient to them (I’d learned that word last week in English: sub-ser-vi-ent.  Damn, I’ma genius).  Anyways, that brought about the rule about humans being mates.

Apparently it’s, like, super rare for a human to become a mate to a werewolf (especially a dude), but it does happen.  I don’t quite recall the exact number that I’d read the other day, but it’s something, like, one in every eleven-thousand humans can qualify.  I don’t know too much about mates because there’s none of them at my school, but from what Dad and Enrique had told me, they’re something similar to sex slaves where the werewolves are extremely possessive of them and force them to have their puppies.

But I’ll be okay.  

It’s very uncommon for humans to have the Mating Gene, let alone guys since dudes can’t get knocked up… I think.  I’m not sure, I haven’t taken Sex Ed yet since I have to wait until I take the test to see if I’m a Mate since Mates have an entirely different class that they have to take.  However, once I take the test and have those negative results in hand and turn them into the principal at school, then I can watch whatever video in class that I want… but I don’t wanna see the birthing one, I’d heard about that one and it makes my stomach hurt whenever I think about it.

“Just get it done and over with,” I whispered to myself.  “It’s just a simple test.”  My friends had already taken it, and they’d said that the test was a breeze.  You get poked with a needle and a machine reads your blood, popping out your results in a matter of seconds.

Simple enough.

After showering and getting dressed, I trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a muffin before I had to leave for my appointment.  When I got there, I saw Dad sitting at the table, reading the news on his iPad, not even noticing that I was entering the room.

“Hey, Dad!” I greeted him as I approached the fridge, thinking that some orange juice sounded appetizing.

He grunted, his eyes glued to the screen on his tablet.

Eh, he was usually busy due to the demanding hours of his job— but hey, he’s gotta pay the bills somehow.  Still though, my stomach was in knots over the test that I’d have to take in just under an hour.  I know that I was probably just worried over nothing, but it was still a frightening aspect to have to go throughout the morning with!

“D-Dad?” I asked, clearing my throat when my voice embarrassingly cracked.  “Didja wanna come with me to my test?” I even pathetically clasped my hands together in front of me in a pleading motion, utilizing every weapon in my arsenal to convince him to accompany me instead of Enrique.  Shoot, I even tried to make my eyes all wide and cutesy-like.

He didn’t even look up at me.  “Aren’t you going to be late if you don’t get moving soon?” he muttered, taking a loud gulp of his steaming coffee.

“So… is that a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’?” I wondered, shifting my weight from foot to foot in the large kitchen that had just finished remolding two weeks ago— it looked pretty good and Dad had even purchased one of those fridges that had a tablet inserted into it (I loved playing with the voice function on it, making it call Enrique a “Dumbass” every time he grabbed one of his herbal teas).

Dad sighed, pinching the skin above his nose.  “Go, Dakota,” he muttered.  “I’m getting a headache.”

“Okay,” I frowned, shuffling my feet out of the kitchen.  Dad was most likely just tired from his job and really wanted his rest before he had to go back into the office— he works really hard.  Ever since Mom had passed in that freak accident, Dad had completely immersed himself into his work.  I’d rarely seen him some days, spending a majority of my time with the cleaning crew or Marisol.  The only good thing about Enrique was that when he and Dad had began to date, he’d managed to bring Dad out of his depressed state a little bit.

Enrique was waiting in the entryway, impatiently tapping his foot as his arms were crossed in front of him.  “We’re going to be late,” he reminded me.  “And then you’re going to have to tell Alpha why you missed your appointment.”

That certainly put a little more speed into my step.  I rushed out the front door and scurried over to the garage, waiting for the door to open up before leaping into Enrique’s brand new red Tesla that Dad had bought him for Arbor Day.  Enrique turned the vehicle to life with a mighty roar of the engine, and sped out of the driveway, going well over the speed limit once we reached the road.  

Sure enough, like everyday whenever I go out, we passed one of the familiar billboards that littered the county: the ones that had the picture of the pissed off man who had his buff arms crossed in front of his chiseled chest as he scowled with those creepy yellow eyes.  A black goatee framed his thin lips and his dark, thick hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that was hardly visible from the left side.  The caption underneath the scary dude read out in large red letters: _OBEY YOUR ALPHA!_

I’ve never met the Alpha of San Francisco County personally, but I’ve definitely heard of him.  He’d converted Alcatraz Island into his den where he lurks and commands a tight control of the city with an iron fist.  Word has it that he hates humans and had even appealed to the U.S. Government to repeal one of the Treaty’s stipulations about the consumption of human flesh— but that’s just a horror story that Dad told me at bedtime… I hope.  Nevertheless, Alpha is a terrifying man who no one wanted to mess with.  He had a short temper and never seemed to hesitate to throw aggressors into prison or put his enemies to death.  San Francisco County was a very pristine and well-taken care of county, but that was mainly because its human citizens were living in deep fear of their Alpha, resulting in them remaining on their best behavior at all times.

Enrique took all the mandatory twists and turns through the city towards UCSF Medical where I’d take my test.  He thankfully kept the radio on, which helped me attempt to keep my mind off of everything.  I know that I usually look all calm and collected like some guy who’s always got it all under control, but holy crap, I was shaking in my seat.

We even pulled up to a red light near a bus stop where a handful of people and werewolves waited for the bus.  I even spotted a werewolf-human couple, the wolf keeping his large arm secured around the small girl’s shoulders.  He was smiling widely down at her, his huge fangs right out in the open.  Seriously, it looked like the monster’s teeth were made up of steak knives, sending shivers down my spine.

“Damn, see that?” Enrique chuckled, nodding towards the couple.  “If you’re unlucky, that’s gonna be you.”

The color drained from my face, especially when the werewolf’s super hearing allowed him to overhear Dad’s idiot boyfriend.  The wolf cocked his eyebrow and grimaced towards the car, his yellow eyes seemingly piercing right through the tinted windows.

“Uh…” I droned, shrinking in my seat and wishing that the people in the crosswalk would move their asses so that we could speed off as soon as possible.

Enrique, oblivious to the death glare we were receiving, kept droning on and on.  “Ya know,” he chuckled, “back when I was a kid, we had a pet dachshund.  But there’s no way I could ever imagine being the pet to the dachshund.”  He shook his head.  “Pretty sad, if you ask me.”

The werewolf scowled and took a threatening step forward, but his mate put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, whispering something to him.

The light turned green and we were thankfully off and away from the bus stop.

It was definitely lucky of us to get away in time.  I’ve never had a serious and deep encounter with a werewolf before, since my dad liked to keep us separate from them ever since what had happened a few years ago.  The most I’ve ever spoken or dealt with one was when the pizza man from Dominos had been a werewolf.  To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t really noticed at first and hadn’t had anything negative to say about it (the pizza had been delicious).  However, Dad had walked up behind me to make sure that I was going to give the delivery guy a tip, and after one look at the wolf’s yellow eyes, he’d literally shoved me inside the house behind him.  We hadn’t had any pizza delivered anymore since.

I tried to distract myself by going on my phone so that I could flip aimlessly through random apps.  Still, no matter what I read or looked at, my hands were still trembling and I could feel my heart beat rapidly in my chest.  Over and over again, I told myself that the chances of me testing positive for the Mating Gene was highly unlikely and would never happen.  It’s very rare, and even if it did, my dad’s loaded and a lawyer.  I’ll be very well taken care of.

“Ya wanna know what I heard the other day in Yoga Class?” Enrique asked as the hospital began to loom in the distance.

“‘Hey, everybody look at that old man in those fake Adidas’?” I snapped.

“They weren’t fake.  The logo came off in the wash,” he groaned.  “But no.  My friend told me that some counties are doing away with the age restriction and are immediately sending humans away to live with their werewolf mates as soon as they’re paired up.  Creepy, huh?”

Yes, that is very creepy.

I’m not too up to date on exactly how the people are paired up with werewolves, but the idea of me at thirteen having to be shipped off to a random stranger’s house immediately was terrifying.  Dad had told me that once humans test positive for the Mating Gene and they’re paired up with a wolf, then they instantly become the property of said wolf.  I… I have no clue how to respond to that.

We pulled into the parking garage of the hospital, and Enrique actually managed to snag a spot near the front.  Okay, so we’re here.  This is really happening.

Enrique turned off the car and eagerly hopped out, smirking to himself the entire time.  “C’mon, Dakota,” he grinned.  “Time to find out if you’re gonna be a dog’s pet or not.”  He maniacally giggled as he turned and sauntered off towards the entrance of the hospital, a little pep in his step the whole way.

“Okay,” I breathed to myself, trying to bring my nerve levels up.  Holding my head up high and squaring my shoulders, I followed behind my father’s boyfriend, already planning my celebration tonight when my results pop up negative.  Perhaps I’ll invite Asher and Tim over and we can just play PS4 all night.  Eh, or the Switch.

Either way, it’s totally time to just get this done and over with so that I can resume my life with no werewolves.

Enrique and I entered the hospital and I signed in at the front desk, showing the worker my ID.  I was then told to have a seat in the waiting room and that I’d be called to the back rather soon… soon? Really? There wouldn’t be time for me to gain my bearings and be able to have my heart settle down?

We sat down on the hard leather seats and I tried to stare at my phone again, but I was still nervous as shit.  Meanwhile, Enrique began to watch the TV that was mounted on the wall, paying close attention to the news story that was depicting something going on somewhere.  

Despite all the facts that I’d been told, I was still pretty anxious.  I really wish that Dad had managed to come here with me.  I knew that he was busy with work and everything, but damn.  I couldn’t help but believe in the pit of my stomach that having him here would’ve definitely helped me out with my nerves.  I mean, after Mom had died, the knowledge that I at least still had Dad was a comfort to me.

But alas, he wasn’t here.

“Will it hurt?” I whimpered, looking up at Enrique with wide eyes.  It sucked that he was the only one I could turn to during my time of need.  Although, I fought with all of my inner strength to not make a joke about how Enrique was too old and thus had never been required to take the test before… I think.  Come to think of it, I don’t know how old the dude is.  I’ll just say fifty-nine since I know it’ll piss him off.

He shook his head, not breaking his line of sight from the flatscreen TV.  “All they do is poke you with a needle, check your blood, and if you don’t have the gene then we go home,” he mused.

“A-and what if I do have it?” I trembled, nervously twirling my fingers in my lap.

He rolled his eyes and loudly sighed.  “Dakota, how many times do we have to tell you this?” he groaned.  “It’s very rare for humans to carry the Mating Gene.  And even if they do, statistically speaking, girls are more likely to carry it than boys.”

“How come?” I wondered, mainly just wanting to talk so that I could feel better.

Enrique shrugged.  “Guys can’t have babies?” he guessed.  “I’m assuming that’s the point of mating.”

“I don’t get it,” I admitted, still confused and terrified over having to take the freaky test.

“Don’t worry about it.  Everything will be fine,” Enrique muttered.  “And if not, then oh well.  We can pick you up some K-9 Advantix on the way home.  Just as a precaution.”  Asshole.

“Dakota Winters!” a doctor called out into the waiting room from a door that led to the examination rooms, totally ruining my moment for a great comeback.

Okay, this is nothing too bad.  All I need to do is get this test done and over with, come up with a witty retort to Enrique’s joke, and then carry on with my bitchin’ life of watching anime and eating Cheetos.  After taking a deep sigh, I got up out of the seat, popping my neck to try to rid myself of some of the tension.

The doctor gave me a warm smile as I tiptoed over towards the door that she held open.  “Come on, it’ll be fine,” she grinned.  “The test only takes a minute at most.”

I silently followed behind her as we walked through the narrow hall that had posters of children laughing on the walls.  Like any other hospitals where they send kids, there were lots of cartoon characters and bright colors adorning every piece of machinery and there were Radio Disney songs playing lightly on the overhead speakers.  It helped to calm me down a little bit, but as soon as the doctor turned into one of the empty rooms near the end of the hallway, my heart sank and I could feel myself wanting to turn around and sprint back out into the waiting room.

I entered the room and the doctor patted her hand on the large examining chair that was covered with a thin white sheet of paper.  I hopped on it, feeling my sweat begin to bead up on my forehead.  I was so scared!  If I was meant to be the mate to a monster, then I would grow up knowing that the second I turn eighteen, I’ll be delivered to my doom.  That’s what my dad says, that kids who find out that they’re mates have to go through their entire childhood with a storm cloud over their heads.

“You look a little scared,” the doctor frowned as she turned on a small looking square machine that resembled a microwave and that rested on the far counter before washing her hands.  The machine had a small TV screen on it, and below that was a small hole that looked just big enough for me shove my pinky into.

“I-I’m n-not scared.  You’re scared,” I huffed, my trembling voice making it obvious that I wasn’t telling the truth.  I nervously played with the loose strings on my sweater and I kicked my legs back and forth, allowing them to loudly bang into the table I sat on.

The doctor pursed her lips and looked outside.  “Oh, would you look at that?” she sighed.  “It looks like it’s gonna rain again.  We've had nothing but rain for the entire week, I’m seriously missing the sunshine.”

“Really?” I beamed, happy that the rainy weather would give me the perfect excuse for wanting to stay inside all day.  I turned my attention to the window to check out the large storm clouds that were already forming in the sky, making it look way later in the day than it really was—

There was a slight prick on my finger and I gasped when I whipped my head back towards the doctor to see that she’d already stuck me with the tiny needle to draw a drop of my blood.  She tricked me!

The doctor walked back over to the machine, sliding the blood-covered needle into the tiny hole.  “This machine helps us to determine if you carry the Mating Gene,” she explained as she began to push several buttons.  “If you do, then a green checkmark pops up on the screen.  If not, then a red ‘X’ flashes.”

The black screen was blank for a long time as the doctor continued to toy with the machine, pushing a button here and there.  I held my breath as I awaited my fate.  I can’t be the mate to a werewolf!  I’m only thirteen and I haven’t even had my first date or kiss with a normal human guy!  Plus, Dad and Enrique hate werewolves, so if I was supposed to be tied to one for the rest of my life, then that hate might transfer over to me as well (eh, I don’t really give a shit if Enrique hates me— I’m sure he already does and that makes me smile).

_Ping!_ the machine rang out, telling us that it was done checking my blood.

“Oh, would you look at that?” the doctor muttered, stepping away from the machine as she nodded to herself.

On the screen was a bright green checkmark.

My throat closed up and my fingers went numb as I stared at the stupid green symbol on the screen.  No… no, this can’t be happening.  “There must be a mistake.  C-can you check it again?” I whimpered, feeling my eyes burn with fright.  Even my voice came out as a pathetic and sad squeak that showed off how scared I was.

The doctor swallowed loudly and nodded, grabbing a different needle from the drawer and removing it from the plastic wrap.  “Hold out your other hand,” she said.

I did as instructed and held out a shaky hand for her, this time watching as she stuck a tiny portion of the needle into my index finger.  My dark red blood oozed out of the hole and the needle collected a little bit of it on its head before the doctor cleared the machine’s screen and inserted the new needle into the hole.

It had to have been a false positive.  Those sort of things happen with pregnancy tests, so it should happen with mating tests too.  Besides, Enrique had mentioned that it’s rare for boys to become the mates of a werewolf because we can’t carry puppies in our tummies… at least I hope not.  Cringing, I placed a tender hand on my stomach, feeling as if I were about to throw up as I awaited the machine’s answer for a second time.

_Ping!_

Another bright green checkmark.  Crap.

“Alright then,” the doctor sighed, scribbling something down a clipboard before turning to me.  “We have to notify your parents and Alpha of your status.  But before that, we have to take some retinal scans, so please follow me.”

She opened up the door to the room and I allowed my body to go into auto-mode.  The whole time I followed her through the halls to another room, my stomach was in knots and my mind began to wonder what my life would be like with a werewolf as a mate.  I’ll die, obviously.  My throat was dry and my eyes stung as silent tears broke through my walls, freely streaming down my cheeks and onto my sweater.  My life was over.  I’m going to be delivered to a monster who will eat me when I turn eighteen, and my dad will want nothing to do with me because he hate werewolves.

This sucks ass!

The doctor led me into another room with the lights turned down really low.  In the center of it was a really tall machine that that an attachment sticking out of it in the shape of an “L”, with a helmet on the lower portion.

“This is a retinal scanner,” the doctor said as she approached the machine and flipped a switch on it, making it hum loudly.  “What we’re going to do is take pictures of your eyes, which go into a database.  Unmated werewolves have another machine just like this, but instead of having a picture taken of them, they get to watch all of the pictures that we’ve collected from around the U.S.”

I was honestly barely listening as I struggled to maintain my composure.  I even wiped a ton of snot onto my sleeves, grimacing when some it stuck to my face in long strings.

“The werewolf is also hooked up to a heart monitor, and when they see a picture of their mate’s eyes, then their heart rate spikes to a level unique to what is dubbed, ’First Sight’.”  The machine’s humming whirred down and the doctor sat down at a desk that had a computer on it, typing in some data.  “Anyways, this works because in First Sight, the initial mating bond is formed through eye contact, so scientists have discovered that by having a werewolf see their mate’s retinal scans, they can establish the bond— and all without needing to be in the same room, let alone the same state.  When I was selected, I was living in Hawaii and my mate was living here in San Francisco.  Neat, right?”

No, no it wasn’t neat!  Not only did I not understand half of the words that she used, I was still panicking over my life being over!

“Let’s see,” she muttered as she studied the calendar on her wall.  “Unmated werewolves tend to view scans biweekly, but it looks like they’ll view it… tonight.  Wow, lucky you.  Let me get these scans in within the hour, and by tonight, you should know who your mate is.”

Oh God… this was moving way too fast for me.  Just this morning, I’d woken up (late) and had spent tons and tons of hours online, totally living it up as I watched anime and read fanfiction.  Had I known that by the end of the day I’d be tied to a monster for the rest of my life, then I would’ve searched my imagination for a way to fake my death.

The doctor motioned towards the helmet so that she could take the damning picture of my eyes for the werewolf to see.

My heart sank even closer to my feet as I approached the helmet, knowing that I really had no other choice in the matter.  If I were to flee, then the police would track me down and then Alpha would decide my punishment.  I heard that he’s really mean when it comes to humans trying to run away from their mates, and he usually puts a tracking ankle-bracelet on them.  Last time I checked, anklets are out.  Therefore, I put the helmet on, staring at a sheet of dark glass that covered a bunch of machinery and wiry looking stuff.

“Keep your eyes wide and make sure you don’t blink!” the doctor called, and I heard the clacking of keys on the keyboard.

Sniffing, I strained my eyes and forced them to stay open.  Thanks to the tears that I couldn’t stop shedding, my vision was all blurry.  The machine began to hum again and there were several flashes of bright, white light that temporarily left colorful spots in my eyesight.

“Alright!” the doctor chirped and I pulled away from the helmet, trying to blink my vision back to normal.  “You can expect a call from Alpha later tonight with your mate’s information— but real quick.  Please stand against the wall and straighten up your posture.  I need to take a picture of your entire face for your profile.”

“O-okay,” I whimpered, my bottom lip quivering as I slowly inched my way towards to the wall for a stupid picture.  I pressed my back flat against the cold wall, wiping my face frantically with my sweater’s sleeves that were becoming increasingly dirty.

The doctor pulled out her cell phone and held it out in front of her, pursing her lips again as she glanced at the screen.  “Aren’t you going to smile?” she asked.  “This is going to be the first photo of you, besides your retinal scans, that your mate will see.”

In that case, I might as well turn around flash my ass for the douchebag who’s just up and ruined my awesome life.  Instead, I shook my head, deciding to look totally serious and happy-free.  At least I managed to control my tears, so I wouldn’t come off as a pathetic baby.

The doctor shrugged and took the picture before uploading it to the computer.  After clicking a couple of links and typing some stuff into the forms, she submitted my information, officially putting me into the database for unmated werewolves to see.

“Don’t worry, Dakota,” she tried to reassure me from the computer, but I’d already burst into tears again.  “Having a mate isn’t the end of the world.  The most important thing to do is to keep an open mind and actually give them a chance.”

No, there was no way I’ll ever accept my fate as a dog’s pet human!  No frickin’ way!

“Who knows?” she continued.  “You two may actually be very happy together.”

No, no, no!  NO!

I cannot be the mate to a werewolf.  I already know that the hospital’s going to contact Alpha, who will contact my dad, and then my fate will be sealed.  My life is over and it’s because of some stupid werewolf who I haven’t even met yet.  

I hate them already!


	4. These Streets

  **[Photo of Caleb/Daddy]**

“These Streets” - Bastille

_These streets are yours / You can keep them / I don’t want them / They pull me back / And I surrender / To the memories I run from_

**V●ᴥ●V**   
****

In under twenty-four hours, my life was flipped upside down.

I’d known for quite a while that I’d eventually have to take the test to determine whether or not I carried the gene that would deem me as a werewolf’s mate.  However, never in a million years did I expect the results to be positive!

Just as I’d feared and known, the doctor contacted the Alpha of San Francisco County who then informed my dad of the “wonderful” news: That his thirteen year-old son would grow up to be the mate to a frickin’ monster!  I’d been in the room, uncharacteristically silent as I replayed the entire scene in my head over and over again, forever on loop.  

This sucks!  All because of some malfunction in my blood, I was forced to live out the rest of my years with a mutant dog with sharp teeth and the ability to gobble me up if I happen to misbehave… which wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary.  Oh crap.

The entire drive home, Enrique was weirdly quiet as well.  Every few seconds, his eyes would dart over to me, his body incredibly tense as he pursed his lips.  His fingers flexed around the plastic steering wheel and his jaw was clenched as he tried with all of his might to not say something snarky.

The idiot was obviously trying to protect his own ass since everybody with a brain knew what happened to someone who pissed off a werewolf’s mate: They were hunted down by said werewolf.

I just grunted, having no clue what to do or even say for that matter.  My mind was turned to mush as I viewed that dreaded green checkmark in my imagination each and every time I closed my eyes.  It was as if it’d been burned into my corneas, forever in my line of sight.  Dammit!  My body was numb and I couldn’t stop bouncing my legs in my seat out of anticipation.  The doctor had mentioned that unmated werewolves would most likely search through the database later on today, meaning that I’d probably know who I’d be paired up with for the rest of my life before sunset.

This was really moving way too fast for my taste.

Of course as we drove home, I couldn’t help but notice the large number of werewolf-human couples that were out on the street today.  It didn’t matter what genders or ages were involved, the werewolves were the most intimidating of the two— they were the larger and the most mean-looking ones with their yellow eyes and big ass teeth.

Fuck… I am so dead.  My heart sped up and there was small wheeze detectable in my breathing.

After what seemed like an eternity of being in the Tesla, Enrique pulled up in front of the house, not even bothering to park inside the garage like he always does.  The good news was that I saw Dad’s car still in the driveway, meaning that he was here and would probably be able to help me feel better.  Dad was a powerful and very well-respected lawyer in our county, so he’ll be able to figure out a way to help me.  

I have the upmost confidence in him.

I didn’t even wait for the car to come to complete stop before I bolted out of it and scurried up the front steps.  “Dad!” I yelled as soon as I was inside, frantically whipping my head around for any sign of the man.

The new maid, Sofia, walked out of the kitchen, giving me a sympathetic smile.  “ _Alles klar?_ ” she asked, cocking her read to the side as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“No thanks, I’m not hungry,” I said, although I had no clue what she’d just said to me right now.  “Have you seen my dad?”

Sofia rolled her eyes and pointed at the staircase, which meant that Dad had to have been in his office.

“Donkey!” I shouted at her as I zipped right up the stairs at the fastest pace that I could muster, although my legs felt as if they were made of jelly thanks to my nerves.

“ _Danke!_ ” I overheard Sofia correct me.  “ _Rotzlöffel_ …”

I kicked the door open to Dad’s office, noting how high he jumped in his seat from being startled.  He looked as if he were about to cuss me out, but his reddened face paled and he sighed deeply.  Yeah, he was disappointed that I’d tested positive for the Mating Gene too.  Sadly, by the way his shoulders were slumped and by the way he refused to meet my eye, I could tell that he didn’t have a plan in mind yet.

“Dad, what do I do?” I whined, stomping my foot out of sheer desperation.  I cannot be the mate to a werewolf!  That goes against the laws of nature!

Dad huffed again and pinched the skin above his nose.  “I just got off the phone with one of my associates, and he assured me that there’s literally nothing I can do,” he muttered.  “Unless the wolf is proved to be physically abusive to you, there’s no legal leg that I can stand on.”

“S-so all I have to do is get the werwolf to sock me?” I cheered, an idea already forming in my head.  Shit, Enrique wanted to beat me up on a daily basis, so if I wanted the werewolf to kick my ass, then all I had to do was be myself!

It’s the perfect plan!

“I already thought of that,” Dad groaned.  “And there’s no legal precedence for domestic abuse in a werewolf pairing— it just doesn’t happen apparently.”

Oh man, I am so fucked…

There was loud banging coming from out in the hallway; and from the office door that I’d left open, I could barely make out Enrique’s hunched over form as he darted back and forth between rooms.  Hmm, maybe he was doing some jogging since he was too embarrassed to jog outside where everybody could see him in last season’s shoes? But whatever, back to me.  Dad and I really need to put our heads together so that we can come up with a solution on how to get me out of this situation.  I don’t know any human mates personally, so I wouldn’t be able to just up and ask one of them for advice on how to escape a werewolf.  Therefore, I really needed to employ all of my cunningness…

“Babe, everything okay?” Dad asked Enrique, totally putting my shit on the back burner.

Instead of answering my father, Enrique stopped in the doorway and gave me one of his usual death glares.  “How could you do this to our family?!” he roared as soon as our eyes met.  He stomped his feet into the office towards me, his hair wild and fiery to match the fury in his face.  Enrique had always been the most vocal about his dislike of the werewolves, so it honestly didn’t come as that much of a surprise that he was so pissed off about my affliction.

Dad quietly fumed at his desk, trying to turn his attention towards the computer screen in front of him.  However, he wasn’t typing anything on the keyboard, so I knew that he was just trying to distract himself from the anger that he was most likely feeling about my impending bestiality-induced death.

Enrique continued his stalking, his hands shaking with rage as his eyes burned with white hot intensity.  “Do you honestly think that this is okay, Dakota?” he shrieked, his voice growing hoarse.  “There’s no way I’m gonna allow you to bring one of those dogs into our home!”

Dad flinched in his seat and turned his head to face his boyfriend, a soft look on his face when he looked at him.  “Babe,” he cooed, “don’t worry.  Everything will be okay.  I’ll take care of it.”

Enrique tensed up, squinting his eyes and shaking his head.  “No!  You don’t understand!” he cried.  “They won’t stop until they have him!”  He spun around and dashed back into the hallway to resume whatever the hell he’d been doing before coming in and oh-so rudely interrupting mine and Dad’s brainstorming session.

I was so confused.  I knew that Enrique and Dad would be angry, but I had no idea that Enrique would overreact like this.  He’d told us horror stories from his childhood of when the werewolves had revealed themselves.  He’d lived in Santa Rosa at the time of the war, and he’d witnessed people being shredded apart like pieces of paper at the massive claws that the monsters had.  Some nights he’d be wide awake, plagued with night terrors of werewolf fangs that had chomped their way through lines of soldiers without breaking a sweat.  Therefore, due to the past terror that he’d witnessed, it was perfectly rational for Enrique to be afraid of werewolves.  But the asshole didn’t need to take it out on me!  I had enough on my plate right now!

After a few minutes of trying to figure out what I could do, I painstakingly realized that I couldn’t come up with any idea that didn’t involve superpowers, changing my identity altogether, or faking my death.  Dammit.

“Enrique?” Dad asked worriedly, seemingly vaporizing me from his line of sight as he stared out the office door.  “What’s with the bag?”

I turned around and saw Enrique rushing down the hallway with a large suitcase trailing behind him.  He didn’t even bother to slow his rushed pace or to glance back at us.  He shouted as he stomped off, “I’m leaving!  There’s no fucking way I’m going to put up with some fucking mutant dogs!”  The crazy dude sprinted down the stairs and I overheard the front door slam open and the Tesla start back up.  The idiot hadn’t even closed the front door and I heard the tires of his car screech as he took off, the hum of the engine growing fainter with each passing second.

Eh, so Enrique left.  Whoop-dee-doo.  No one cares…

Now, back to me!

“He’ll be back, don’t worry,” Dad grunted, turning his attention back to his computer.  “He once threatened to leave because I ate all of the strawberry in the neapolitan ice cream.  Now give me some space so that I can do some work.  I took today off for your little emergency, but I still have a ton of paperwork that I need to do.”

“Well, I wasn't worried, like, at all,” I mumbled, finding no solace in Dad’s words at all.  That hollow cavity in my chest seemed to grow larger and much more deeper, kind of like a blackhole.  It felt as if all of my organs and emotions were being sucked away to another dimension due to all of the turmoil thrusted at me within a short period of time.  I had no clue how to deal with any of this information. 

Apparently, I was destined to be tied to a werewolf for the rest of my life, and I would find out who that werewolf was later on today if fate really did hate me.  To top it all off, Dad’s unable to help me out because of the laws that require me to be the property of a killer dog.

After I left Dad alone in his office, I tried to force myself to focus on other things: homework, video games, books, anything!  Unfortunately, no matter what I did, that feeling of fear and impending doom weighed down on me, slowing my movements and making it extremely difficult to concentrate on anything.  Even when I attempted to just take a little nap, my nightmares were plagued with images of me running away from a bloodthirsty monster with cartoonish, heart-shaped eyes.  It was becoming increasingly obvious that I really needed a way out of this.

I could just run away from home that way my family wouldn’t be affected by this bullshit.  However, I have no vehicle of my own and absolutely no clue where to go or how to get there.  To add to that doubt, the police force has active patrol squads whose sole duty it is to track down runaway human mates.  If I get caught trying to go into Hiding (the slang for a human trying to flee and “hide” from their werewolf), then I could potentially be immediately delivered to the wolf.  Under normal circumstances, if one could call it “normal”, I’ll be delivered to the wolf when I turn eighteen.  That means I have just over four years to figure out a game plan on what to do.

Eventually, it was past six in the evening.  There still wasn’t any news of my werewolf mate, making me foolishly hope that everything had been a fluke at the doctor’s office and that the test was completely inaccurate.  Another good thing was that there still wasn’t any sign of Enrique either.

I was in the living room, ignoring Sofia as she dusted the bookcases.  Dad paced in the kitchen, his cell phone to his ear as he reached Enrique’s voicemail again.

“Dammit!” he hissed as he tried to dial again.

Now I’m not the jealous type, but it was really irking me that Dad seemed to be a little bit more concerned with his missing boyfriend than he was with his own blood-related son’s dangerous situation with a werewolf mate!  I mean, when it came to the math, I think Enrique was in his fifties; meanwhile, I was just a week shy of fourteen.  I have many more years to offer in which I could potentially do something great and historical… but I probably won’t because I’m way too lazy.  Anyways, what I meant to say was that my value was exponentially greater than that of Dad’s boyfriend’s.

As I tried to play my Switch, my brain refused to obsess over anything except for the fact that life as I know it is now over.  None of my friends would want anything to do with me.  And there’s no way that I can hide my status now because Alpha will make me enroll in the Werewolf Culture classes that will teach me all the How To’s of being mated to a werewolf… or basically “How to Not Get Mauled by Your Spouse”.  My life will never be the same and it really pissed me off that this was happening to me now!  I’m not a bad person, so why am I being punished?  For real, I’m, like, a really good person deep down.

Dad was still trying to get a hold of Enrique, muttering curse words every time it went to voicemail.  I think that he sort of blamed me for him leaving because every so often, he’d frown in my direction, but I pretended not to notice.  I’m sure the man’s just tired from work and finding out that his son’s gonna die in four years.  That would definitely put a damper on my mood… well, it kind of already has.

_Ding Dong!_

The doorbell rang out and I flinched, fearful that there would be some monster lurking on the front porch.

My dad went silent and I overheard his heavy footsteps make their way towards the front door.  The door hinges squeaked as the door opened up and I heard a deep, unknown man’s voice muttering something to my father in a kind of bossy tone.  I could’ve sworn that Dad sounded like he was trying to argue, but then it was followed by a tense silence.

“Um, D-Dakota!” Dad called out from the entryway.  “Can you c’mere for a sec?” He was using that tone that he often reserved for times when I was in trouble and he wanted to bitch me out, so I knew that this was bad.  The doctor had told me that I’d most likely find out who the werewolf was that claimed me tonight, so my heart felt as if it were about to explode in my chest as I paused my game and dragged my feet out of the living room.

Sofia pursed her lips and crept away towards the kitchen, further from the front door.

I tiptoed into the entryway, noting my dad standing awkwardly to the side as a tall man entered the house, straightening his posture and looking all official-like.  He was dressed in a black suit that was form-fitting and seemed to make his muscles pop out noticeably.  His long, jet-black hair was slicked back and his goatee framed the scowl that was painted onto his gruff face… wait, I’ve seen that mean-looking expression before.  The man narrowed his yellow eyes in my direction before smirking a little bit, his giant canine fangs poking out as he did so.

It was Alpha.  Alpha was in my house.  Oh shit…

“Well, well,” he mused, his deep voice so full of bass that it made the windows tremble, “you must be little Dakota.”

I silently nodded, taking a step closer to my father who was pale with fright.  My fingers went cold to the touch as my heart seemed to stop beating, having died from over exhaustion from the day’s events.  Alpha was way taller and buffer than my dad, so I knew that if something went down, then I’d just need to outrun my father if I wanted to survive.  I love the guy, but there’s no way he could physically fight off the monster in my house.

Alpha looked terrifying with his intense height and scary-looking teeth.  Whenever the dude looked at me, a ripple of fear would shoot through me, and I wished that I could just turn invisible.  Was this what I had to look forward to whenever I come face to face with my werewolf mate?

The werewolf forced a smile onto his hardened face, looking pained as he did so.  “Nice to meet you,” he muttered, attempting to sound cheery, but it was more bored.  “And I’d like to extend my upmost congratulations to you for having the privilege of being a werewolf’s mate.”

Yeah… 

The room was filled with uncomfortable silence as I didn’t have anything nice to say about being a werewolf’s mate, so I kept my mouth shut.  This really is a day of firsts.

Alpha’s smile shrank and he went back to scowling.  “Damn kids,” he grunted as he shoved a manila folder at me.  

I held it in my shaky hands, looking up at the werewolf in both fear and confusion.

“I was contacted by the Alpha of Sabine County in Texas who said that they found your mate,” Alpha droned on, sounding like he was reciting a speech that he’d practiced on the drive over to our house.  “As per the regulations, you are expected to contact him using the phone number provided on the form delivered to you.”

“Texas?” I blurted, frowning.  “Isn’t that the place where people have cows instead of Internet?”

“Him?” Dad interrupted, pretending that I hadn’t just asked a significantly life-or-death question.  “My boy was claimed by a man?”

Alpha shrugged.  “The bond is uncontrollable,” he said before turning back to me and putting on a plastic, cheery voice.  “Now Dakota, I know that this may be a little scary for you since everything is happening so fast, ’kay?”

I slowly nodded, my fingers toying with the flap to the manila folder, both anxious and dreading having to open it.  A part of me just wanted to get it done and over with so that my nerves would start the agonizingly slow process of calming down, while the rational side of me wanted to toss the papers into a fire so that I wouldn’t have to deal with them.

Alpha’s smirk grew and his teeth were displayed even more, making me huddle closer to my father who flinched as well.  “I need to add this,” he continued, “if you’re considering running, then just know that we wolves all around the United States work together to ensure that Mates don’t go into Hiding, and there’s nowhere you can go where we won’t find you.”

Oh shit…  The blood drained from my face and my legs felt wobbly as the monster’s words sank in.

“Is that really necessary?” Dad asked, his voice cracking a little bit.  “He’s just ten.  There’s no need to scare him like that.”

“Dad, I’m thirteen…”

Alpha glared at him, erecting his posture to his full height, towering over my dad by at least a foot.  “It is,” he grunted.  “And just know that that extends to you as well, Mr. Winters.  If you are found assisting a Mate in Hiding, then we will come after you too.”

Dad swallowed loudly and tried to maintain his composure, but I could hear his breath go all wheezy and saw sweat bead up on his wrinkled forehead.

Alpha snorted and glanced at his wristwatch.  “You have thirty minutes to contact Mr. Indovino,” he announced.  “The Alpha of Sabine County will inform me on whether or not you have.  And I’d rather not drive all the way up this hill, so make sure that you do.”  With that, he gave Dad and me another look over before rolling his yellow eyes that sent shivers of terror throughout me.  He turned and stomped out of the house, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

Luckily, Dad was on it and slammed the door shut, even doing to the chain and bolt for added security.  Once we were all safe from the scary Alpha whom I wished to never see again, he turned to stare down at the manila folder in my hands.

“Um,” he mumbled, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet, “maybe you should let me open that.”  He held his hand out for the folder, but I tightened my grip on it.

“I can do it, Dad,” I lied, knowing that I’d much rather have my father call the werewolf instead of me having to.  However, after hearing the threatening words from Alpha, I didn’t want to do anything that would put Dad in harm’s way.  The best way to keep him and me safe was to follow orders.  Besides, all I had to do was call the werewolf, dubbed Mr. Indovino— I didn’t need to have a full on conversation with him.  Technically, I could just call and mention that I was alive before hanging up.  No big deal.

“Fine,” Dad sighed, shaking his head.  “But don’t give him our address.  I’ve heard stories at work about wolves coming to their mate’s house just to snatch them up in the dead of night.  Fuck, I need a drink.”  He walked off back towards the kitchen, pulling his phone out of his pocket to try dialing Enrique again.

“O-okay,” I called, rushing up the stairs to my bedroom, the manila folder clutched tightly in my hands.  I closed my bedroom door and even locked it for some reason— it just made me feel the slightest bit better.

There was no way that I actually wanted to call this unknown man who would later become my owner.  It was terrifying, the idea of having my life ripped out from right underneath me while a new one was being forced upon me by the werewolves.  My heart was beating like crazy and I could barely control my breathing as I twirled the folder around in my hands, knowing that the answers to my future were sealed inside.

“Just do it,” I whimpered, trying to psyche myself up.  I needed to look at the information inside and call the phone number provided so that Alpha wouldn’t come back… he was even scarier in person than he was on those propaganda billboards.

With shaky fingers, I opened up the flap to the folder, peeking inside to see that there were two pieces of paper.  I was trembling so hard that I nearly dropped the contents all over the floor.  Growing up, my dad had told me countless stories about how human mates to werewolves were practically slaves and that they were forbidden to make any sort of decisions on their own without the permission of their werewolf; and my dad was the smartest man I knew, so that must’ve been right!  Dammit, I’m way too set in my ways to have my glamorous life in San Francisco torn away from me!  I don’t even know what’s in Texas… I’ve never even left my county.

I yanked out one of the pieces of paper, finding out that it was white piece of printer paper with tidbits of information typed on it.  The writing was so small that I struggled to read it properly, the letters looking really blurry.  In reality, I need to wear glasses, but I don’t want to look like a nerd so I don’t.  And contacts creep me out— who the hell want to wear plastic on their eyeballs? Their eyeballs!!

Sighing, I opened up the drawer on the nightstand next to my bed and snatched my glasses out from them, doing a double take around the room to make sure that no one could see me wearing them before putting them on.  Once I saw that the coast was clear, I put on my glasses and began to read the paper in my frightened clutches, my throat instantly going dry as I took in the information regarding the werewolf I’d be forced to live with in a few years.

_Name_ _: Caleb Alexander Indovino_ [That’s a stupid name.]

_Species_ _: Blood-born Werewolf, Omega_ [Well, at least I didn’t get paired with an Alpha.  I hear they’re crazy possessive.]

_Date of Birth_ _: August 15, 1989_ [So he’s…um, damn math.  He’s twenty-nine.]

_County of Residence_ _: Sabine County, Texas_ [Yee-haw, I guess.]

_Phone Number_ _: +409 555-0930_ [*Sigh.]

_Occupation_ _: U.S. Marine Infantryman (Retired; Medical Discharge)_ [I’m not even sure what that means.  I seriously doubt he makes as much as Dad though.]

_Felonies/Misdemeanors_ _: N/A_ [Thank God.]

_Consumption of Human Flesh_ _: No_ [THANK GOD!]

_Emergency Contact_ _: Leif Aaron Indovino (Brother)_ [So there’s another one…]

_Additional Information_ _: Indovino requests that Winters phone him as soon as San Francisco County’s Alpha deliver information.  Indovino also requests that a copy of Winters’s report card be mailed to his address as well as any permission slips that the school requires.  Indovino requires that Winters refer to him as “Daddy” during all conversations, vocal and written._

_*Humans are reminded to follow every regulation detailed in Article II of The Werewolf-Human Treaty of 1973.  Failure to do so will result in immediate delivery to their Werewolf’s county of residence.*_

And holy crap, a copy of my information was printed on the back side.

_Name_ _: Dakota Tiberius Winters_   [I hate my middle name…]

_Species_ _: Human, Child_   [Well, duh.]

_Date of Birth_ _: October 12, 2006_   [Wow, my birthday was just around the corner.  I really need to start hinting at Dad that I want a new Switch because he’d accidentally bought me the one with the gray joycons, not neon.]

_County of Residence_ _: San Francisco County, California_ [NorCal!]

_Phone Number_ _: *Sabine County prohibits the distribution of the phone numbers and addresses of minors without their consent. Have him/her contact Werewolf first._   [Well, damn that was lucky of me.]

_Occupation_ _: Student, 7th Grade, D-Average_ [At least it’s not F-Average, so yeah.]

_Flight Risk_ _: High, Father and paternal Grandmother have combined net worth of $42,000,000. A hold will be issued on passport to restrict inter-county travel._   [Wait, what?]

_Additional Information_ _: Mother deceased (d. 2010) from feral Rogue’s activity_   […]

I have to be honest: That paper was a little vague about whoever this Caleb douche was.  And why the hell did he expect me to call him “Daddy”? I don’t even call Dad that because I’m way too old and mature for childish bullshit like that.  There’s no way that’s going to fly with me.  If that werewolf thinks that he can just up and come into my life and start bossing me around like he pays my bills, then he’s got another thing coming.  Plus, I can’t send him my report cards because they’re far too embarrassing…

Plus, my paper had been really personal, making me have to take ten in order to stop my eyes from welling up.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t really waste too much time.

My shoulders slumping, I pulled the other piece of paper out of the folder, noticing that it was a headshot of Caleb.

Truth be told, had he not been a werewolf and had he not been responsible for fucking up my life, I would’ve considered him attractive.  He had untouched skin and dark brown hair that was cut short on the sides, but grown out a little longer on top.  The lower part of his face was covered in dark stubble and that framed a wide smile full of razor sharp teeth, his fangs looking as large as my pinkies.  There were those lines on his face near his eyes that indicated that his smile was true and genuine, not fake like most of the ones that Enrique and Dad used whenever they went out into public.  Because the photo was from the neck up, I couldn’t get an idea of how large the werewolf was exactly, but his neck was thick and I could barely make out how broad his shoulders were.  If I had the money (which I do, hehe), I would bet that Caleb was jacked.

This really sucks.

As I stared down at the yellow eyes of the man in the picture, I swallowed loudly.  Alpha had demanded that I call Caleb within thirty minutes, and there was no way that I could disobey him.  I don’t even want to know what would happen to me if I did.

I… I just h-have to get it done and over with.

I fished my iPhone out of my pocket, having to redial the offered phone number a few times because my shaky fingers kept messing up.  Once I finally had it down, I felt so light-head that I flopped back onto my bed as I pressed the _Call_ button and put the phone up to my ear.

The phone didn’t even ring that long until the other end picked up.

“ _Hello?_ ” answered a deep voice with one of those southern twangs that I’ve heard on TV.

My mouth went dry and I moved my jaw, but no sound came out at all.  The room seemed to be spinning and I could barely concentrate on anything besides the scary fact that I was on the phone with a werewolf who would later force me to live with him.

“ _Hello?_ ” Caleb repeated.  “ _Anyone there?_ ”

I cleared my throat and shook my head to try to rid myself of some of my nerves.  “Um, h-hey,” I squeaked, my voice cracking midway.  “I-I’m—”

“ _Dakota!_ ” Caleb cheered, sounding incredibly peppy and upbeat.  “ _It’s so good to hear from you.  I bet this is sort of a shock, huh?_ ” That’s putting it lightly…

“Yeah… Um, my Alpha told me to call you.  So if you could please inform your Alpha to tell mine that I did, that would be nice… Um, later.”  I was about to hang up when Caleb grunted on the other end.

“ _Don’t hang up yet_ ,” he scoffed, and I envisioned the older man rolling his eyes at my attitude.  “ _I wanna talk to you.  I’ve spent twenty-nine years without a mate, so I want to soak up as much time with you as I can.  Please, tell me about your day or something._ ”

“M-my day?” I repeated in shock, feeling a little pity for the dude whose life must’ve been so utterly boring that he wanted to hear about my trip to the doctor’s.

“ _Yeah_ ,” the werewolf chuckled, his deep voice so masculine that it kind of made me sink deeper into my bed.  My dad’s voice didn’t have the same baritone that Caleb’s did, sounding more like a chipmunk’s now by comparison.  “ _Tell me how school went today._ ”

“I didn’t go to school today,” I blurted, wondering why this guy was so interested in hearing me talk about school.  And why on Earth did he want me to call him ‘Daddy’? That makes no sense to me at all!

The werewolf huffed into the receiver.  “ _Why didn’t you go to school, Baby?_ ” he asked.  “ _It’s really important for you to get your edu—_ ”

“Wait!” I interrupted, even leaping off my bed as my body was wrecked with complete disgust over the new nickname that I’d been cursed with.  

“ _Huh?_ ”

“What the fuck did you just call me?” I barked, using the same annoyed voice that I’d always used with Enrique whenever he’d ordered onions on our pizza.  Straight up trashy.  My heart was racing fast and my vision was red with being referred to as a baby by some unknown dick who was ruining my life all in under a day.

There was a long pause on the other end, and I briefly wondered if Caleb had just up and given up on me.  Man, that’d be sweet.  “ _I called you, ‘Baby’,_ ” he muttered, sounding a bit weirded out by my outburst.  “ _It’s a term of endearment.  I didn’t mean to upset you.  Sorry, Dakota._ ”

“So does that mean that ‘Daddy’ is a term of endearment too?” I challenged, even wrinkling my forehead in confusion at the odd nicknames the man had already picked out for us.  

Caleb chuckled on the other end.  “ _Yeah_ ,” he laughed, “ _I should’ve known you’d react like this.  Sounds like I got a feisty one, but don’t worry.  I’m more than up for the challenge, Baby.  You just wait and see— I’ll have you on my side pretty soon._ ”

This wolf was delusional and needed some serious meds if he honestly believed that I’d be on his side for anything!  He’s a werewolf and I’m a human!  I don’t even think that we have the same kind of organs!  Plus, we just met and already he’s trying to call me “Baby” and be all friendly to me.

“ _Ya know_ ,” Caleb droned on, sounding like he was daydreaming, “ _I got your picture right here with me.  It looks like you’re cryin’ in it, so I would like to eventually have a heart to heart so that I can assure you of my intentions.  I want you to feel safe with me, Dakota._ ”

Pssh!  I just met the dude!  Not face to face, but still!

“ _You still there, Baby?_ ” Caleb asked when I was quiet for a while.

“Y-yeah,” I coughed, having to clear my throat of some phlegm that had collected near the back of it.  “Hey, it’s, um, getting late so I gotta go…”

“ _Already?_ ” he whined, sounding sad that I was going to hang up as soon as I could.  “ _Well, okay.  But make sure you call me as soon as you wake up.  I want you to call me every morning, at lunch, when you get home from school, and every night.  Sound good, Baby?_ ”

Yeah, there’s no way I’m doing that.  “Whatevs.”

“ _Okay…  Well, Dakota, it was very nice talking to you for the first time_ ,” Caleb said in an almost soothing voice… odd.  “ _And I just want you to know that I can hear the apprehension in your voice, Baby, but I can assure you that I’ll never hurt you._ ”

I was speechless over having him hitting the nail right on head when it came to my fear today.

“ _I mean, I know that we’re just talking and that we haven’t officially met yet, but I really care about you.  Please relax and just know that I promise that I’ll take very good care of you, Dakota.  Trust me, I’ll be a very good Daddy to you._ ”

I felt like I should’ve said something akin to what Caleb had just spouted— something emotional and heartfelt.  I opened my mouth and searched my brain for something witty, even glancing at the photo of Caleb that was on my bed for some indication as of what to say, but all that came out was, “Do you eat people?”

That was a tremendous fear of mine.

“ _What?!_ ” Caleb retched in complete horror and disgust.  “ _Of course not!_ ”  Oops, I’d accidentally offended him.  To be honest, it was gift that I had.

“Okay,” I mumbled, unsure of what to say.  “I guess I’ll talk to you later then.”  I made a move to hang up when I overheard Caleb saying something on the speaker.

“ _Wait!_ ” he urged.

“What?”

“ _I, uh, just noticed that the form says your fourteenth birthday is next week_ ,” he breathed.  “ _I would like to send you something.  Why don’t you give me your address so I can ship you a real nice gift?_ ”

I swear that the world stopped turning as I froze on the spot, instantly recalling Dad’s warning regarding not telling the werewolf where we lived exactly because he could come over and kidnap me.  I wasn’t sure exactly what Caleb did as a job, but it had said that he was a Marine something… so it must have something to do with the ocean.  And San Francisco’s right on the ocean, so he could engage in some sort of sneak attack on me, creeping this way by sea!

I hung up.

I don’t care if I didn’t even bother to say, “Bye”.  I just couldn’t give out my address because there was no way I planned on getting taken away from my wonderful life by some fucking monster who allegedly eats people!  He’d claimed that he didn’t, but I’d also always told my teachers that I respected them.  People lie!

My breathing was growing shallow and I nervously glanced all around my room for some sort of inspiration for an escape plan.  I just had to get out here before I turn eighteen and am shipped off to Texas to live with Caleb.  We barely even knew each other, and already he was acting like he was all excited for us to start a life together.  And why the fuck would I ever call him “Daddy”? What was the point of that?!

“Hey, Dad?” I called out, figuring that my father could answer that pressing question for me.

“What do you want, Dakota?” he grunted, and I could still hear the beeping of his cellphone.

“Why would a man ask me to call him ‘Daddy’?” I asked.  My dad had a very high IQ, so he would be able to let me in on the inner workings of Caleb’s mind, which would then help me better to form a plan on how to get rid of him.  It was foolproof.

“WHAT?!” he roared, his feet stomping towards my bedroom, but remained on the other side of the door since I hadn’t unlocked it yet.  “Did the werewolf ask you to call him ‘Daddy’?” 

Oh, so now he gets all hot and bothered? Oh well, I’ll take it.  Better late than never…


	5. You Changed Everything

“You Changed Everything” - Ellie Goulding

_You take everything from me / Everything / I know I try to hide / I know it’s true / Everything is you_

**V●ᴥ●V**

_3:21 AM._   
****

Ugh, this is so stupid!  Gritting my teeth, I shoved the pillow over my head in a last ditch effort to get some shut eye.  I was suppose to leave the house for school at seven thirty in the morning, but I couldn’t fall asleep.  My heart was still beating loudly in my chest (I could feel the vibrations all the way in my throat) and my legs spasmed as the small muscles in them refused to calm down.  Adrenaline seeped through my veins, preventing me from managing to keep my eyes closed for three straight minutes.

This Mating Gene is some bullshit!

I’d spoken to Caleb on the phone earlier in the day and he’d actually had the balls to ask for my address!  My address!  Granted, it was a pretty clever ruse disguised as a potential birthday gift— but still.  Dad had warned me my entire life, not just today, that werewolves are not to be trusted.  He’d claimed that they possess canine brains that prohibit them from making thought-out and rational decisions.

Dad had also lost his shit when I’d told him that Caleb had asked… I mean, _required_ that I call him “Daddy” vocally and in written messages.  His face had gotten all red and he’d stormed off back to his office where he barricaded himself for the rest of the night, stuck in a mixture of calling Enrique and fuming over my poor situation.  It really sucks that this was such a difficult and pressing time for him…

After a bit of deep thinking, I figured that the best course of action was to carry on with my life like normal while I try to piece together a solution to get myself out of this predicament.  Ideas flew through my worried brain at a million miles an hour, my head refusing to relax for a brief second.  I’d attempted to watch some anime on my Mac, but I hadn’t even been able to concentrate for a split second, resulting in me just turning the machine off and flopping down into bed.

The moonlight filtered in through the window, casting a faint silver illumination across my large bedroom.  My flat screen TV that was mounted on the far wall was on, but I had the volume muted and just allowed the colorful shapes of whatever show was playing to dance across the seventy inch screen.

I have no clue exactly how I’m going to survive this situation that life has thrusted towards me.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with a legit plan that just shouted out, “Success!”  I don’t run fast.  I have a travel ban placed on me by the U.S. Government because evidently I’m a flight risk all because my family is loaded— ugh, seriously, people just like to judge me because I’m well off.  They have no idea how hard it can be sometimes for me.

“Dammit,” I hissed in my dark bedroom, grasping at my short hair in frustration.  This was too much and there didn’t seem to be any rainbow at the end of my tunnel at all… no, it was just a creepy werewolf who wanted me to call him “Daddy”.  That sucks.

_Buzz!  Buzz!_

Hmm?

I lifted my heavy head up from my soft, Tempur-Pedic pillow to see what the buzzing noise was in my room.  On my nightstand next to my bed, I could see my iPhone’s screen light up, an unknown +409 number brightly displayed.  *Sigh, I know who it is.

The last time I’d spoken to Caleb was when I’d hung up on him because he’d asked me for my address.  Before that, he’d suggested that I call him every morning and night along with some other instances involved, but I couldn’t remember all the little tidbits, just the main ones.  Anyways, because I hadn’t wanted to, I hadn’t called Caleb when I went to bed.

So, sue me.

I ignored his phone call, not in the mood to hear his cornfed accent or his weird Daddy!Kink attitude.  There’s only so much that I can put up with at once, and a werewolf would definitely push me over the edge into insanity.  Then I’d have to be committed and be without my dad and TV.  There’s no way I want either of those to go away forever.

_Buzz!  Buzz!_

Seriously?! I groaned out loud as soon as Caleb tried to call me again— he apparently had no clue that regular people were asleep at three in morning… although I was wide awake.  Whatever; had I actually been asleep, then I would’ve chewed his ass out.

Sighing, I figured that fighting off the inevitable was futile, so I picked my iPhone up off the nightstand and pushed on the green button that would accept the call, putting it up to my cold ear.

“Whaaaat?” I groaned, already rolling my eyes at what would go down.

There was low, heavy breathing on the other line.  However, this kind of breathing wasn’t just the normal mouth-breathing that tried to copy off of multiple horror movies, no.  This one was very animalistic, containing a small hint of a growl to it, sending a small shiver down my spine.

“ _Pup?_ ” Caleb asked, his voice insanely low and gruff, sounding as if he had a scratchy throat and was straining to get the words out.  Something was up— gone was that sooth and trying-to-be-nice voice, and in its place was this new one that seemed as if it belonged to a villain on some cartoon.

“Um, Caleb?” I wondered, actually sitting up as my interest peaked.  “Is everything okay?” Perhaps he was sick and had gotten a sore throat and that was why he sounded all funny?

There was a low growl on the other end, sounding incredibly pissed off and making me yelp out loud.  It was an eerie noise ripped directly from a Halloween special, making the tiny hairs on my arms stand up straight and, despite being states away, my eyes began to scan around my room in case there was a monster werewolf in here with me.  Shit, I even held up my blanket with my free hand in a pathetic attempt to hide and not be terrified of the growl that Caleb emitted.

“ _No!_ ” Caleb barked, making me jump in my spot on the bed.  “ _You call me ‘Daddy’, remember? So, Pup, what is my name?_ ”

Oh…

This fool was trying to intimidate me into obeying him.  As if!  It hadn’t worked with Enrique, so there’s no fuckin’ way it’s going to pan out for Caleb, even if he is a killer dog with massive fangs capable of reducing me to little delicious shreds… seriously, I think I would be delicious.  Like Doritos.  Or chocolate chip cookies since I’m always so sugary sweet.

“Your name’s Caleb, Dude,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes even though he couldn’t see me, thank God.  “Was that it? ‘Cause I have school tomorrow and I’m considering actually going, so if you would be so kind as to—”

Caleb chuckled on the phone… uh, why was he doing that? “ _You go to St. Francis Academy for Boys_ ,” he snarled, his voice dripping in cockiness and annoyance.  “ _It’s a private, Catholic school that you have a very poor attendance record at.  Tuition is thirty-thousand, and you barely passed the sixth grade._ ”

To be honest, me barely passing wasn’t too big of a shocker so I wasn’t taken aback by that.  However, the rest of the information that Caleb had recited perfectly made me cringe and grit my teeth in sheer anxiousness.  “H-how did you know that?” I wondered.  “‘Cause it’s a lie.  I g-go to… um…”  Damn it, I couldn’t come up with a fake school name!

The werewolf gave a throaty laugh, and it seemed more like he was teasing me than he was amused.  “ _I’m your Daddy_ ,” he simply stated.  “ _It’s my job to know these things.  And as soon as you realize that you’re supposed to my good little boy, you’ll tell Daddy your address so he can come get you._ ”

I knew it!  I knew that Caleb was just some possessive werewolf who just wanted to collect me like I was a trinket to keep locked in his crappy basement in his obscure county in his faraway state.  No way I’ll ever allow that to happen to me.

“Sure,” I spat.  “I live at 123 Screw You Drive.”  I was about to hang up the phone when I heard Caleb’s snarl grow even louder and much more vicious, getting so intense that I could feel it even vibrate my phone in my hand.  My instincts screamed at me to just hang up and turn off my phone, but there was something deep inside of me that encouraged me to return it back to my ear; and for some reason, I listened to the second one.

Caleb’s furious snarling eventually evened out and he huffed angrily on the other line.  “ _You know what, Pup?_ ” he grunted.  “ _I may only be in control for a couple of hours a night, but just remember that once you turn eighteen and are here with me… I.  WILL.  OWN.  YOU!_ ”

I may be a below-average student and I may never grasp the metric system (that shit’s so confusing), but I know perfectly well when someone is straight up cray cray!  Therefore, I literally chucked my iPhone across my bedroom, watching it shatter once it hit the far wall.  Oh well, Dad will buy me another one tomorrow; plus, this means that Caleb cannot get a hold of me now.  Hehe.

But whoa, what the hell was up with him tonight?

I know that he and I had only known one another for less than twenty-four hours, but from what I remember from our earlier phone call, he’d had that Southern charm about him (sorta).  He’d honestly seemed like an excitable puppy at the dog pound who would happily lick whatever face was presented to it… and unfortunately, it was my face.  Anyways, sure, he’d tried to pry my address out from me, but he’d at least attempted to be sly about it.

It was completely night and day when compared to how he’d acted just now.

Gone was the chipper-sounding dude, and in his place was some drill sergeant guy who barked orders at me and behaved like a possessive creeper.  I have no idea why there was the sudden shift in his attitude, but I hope that he doesn’t actually plan on coming to San Francisco to scoop me up.  Although there were laws against werewolves kidnapping their mates before said mates turned eighteen, Dad said that it still happens.

I don’t want that to happen to me.  Shit, I didn’t even want to go to Texas when I turn eighteen, let alone now!  I’m too young, I’m too pretty!

Out of immense and utter exhaustion over today’s events, I collapsed back on my bed, clapping my hands over my face as I struggled to maintain what little composure that I still clung to.  So far I knew a few things for sure: 1). I carry the Mating Gene, 2). Caleb claims me as his mate, 3). Caleb is batshit crazy, and 4). Enrique wears knockoff brand clothing.

I just don’t know what to do, but I know that I have to try something to get out of this predicament.

**Σ(っﾟДﾟ；)っ**

Dad pulled his royal blue Lamborghini up to the drop-off zone of my school.  At first, I’d thought about just skipping again and hiding out in my room for the rest of my life, but Dad had urged me to attend classes since he believed that it’d help to distract me.  As if I actually pay attention to the lessons, pssh!

“Dad?” I asked him, hoping that he’d note the pleading tone in my soft voice.  “Can we just hang out today instead? It’d really make me feel better with everything going on.”  That wasn’t a lie.  I loved to just spend time with Dad, but he was usually so busy that there were sometimes days in which I wouldn’t even see the man.  His job is very demanding, but it definitely treats him well in the end, hence this fancy ass car!

Dad pinched the skin above his nose, shaking his head slowly.  “Dakota,” he groaned, rolling his head back in annoyance, “I already told you that I have to find Enrique today.  He still hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts.”

“I can help you look for him?” I suggested.  “We can check out the discount racks.”  I know that this is a very serious situation for Dad, but I cannot resist the opportunity to burn his boyfriend.  It’s a hobby.

Dad just huffed and ignored me, unlocking the car doors with a click.  “See you at three,” he huffed.  “And don’t forget to turn in your paperwork.”

I grimaced down at the manila folder in my lap, the same folder which held all the information about Caleb that I would be forced to turn into my school.  There’s no doubt in my mind that Alpha and Caleb’s Alpha had already been in contact with my school and had informed the principal of my affliction.  However, just to cover all bases, Dad had insisted that I turn in a copy of the papers that I’d received the other day.

“Okay,” I sighed, slowly crawling out of the car.  “Bye, Da—”

Dad floored the gas pedal and the lambo screeched off down the road, peeling out of the area in mere seconds.  Dang, that is one powerful engine.

I turned around and stared up at the school I barely attended.  I knew that Dad was right, that all I had to do was immerse myself into my schoolwork in order to distract myself from my impending death by werewolf claws.  I’m always down for trying new things, so…

After taking a deep breath, I forced a fake smile onto my face and walked up to the front steps of the school.  Many of the other students took one look at me and quickly diverted their gazes… some of them actually sprinted off in the other direction as if I carried the plague.  What was going on? One guy glanced at me, his face turning bright red as soon as our eyes met.  He then whipped around and scurried off inside the school, out of my line of sight.

Okay, this was odd.

I entered the building, noting how as soon as I was inside, nearly all conversation came to an eery hush.  Seriously, it was as if I’d accidentally unplugged some kind of sound system as soon as I walked inside, everybody shutting up and staring at me as if I were some spectacular sight to behold… I mean, I am pretty spectacular, but that wasn’t the news.  Obviously, somehow word must’ve gotten out that I carried the Mating Gene and would be forced to live the rest of my days in some obscure land known as Texas… I’ve never even seen a horse, so I doubt I’ll fit in there.

I fought hard to keep my attention directed down the hall and away from the judgmental eyes of my peers, a majority of them wearing a mask of pure disgust as they gawked at me.  They scrunched up their foreheads and lifted their noses up into the air— some of them literally just turned around and presented their backs to me, refusing to look me in the eye.  

Whatever, I don’t need them!  I am Dakota Winters, and I have tons of friends, online and in person… and there were even a few on my dating sims that I’d downloaded onto my Mac.

As I wandered through the crowded halls, I spotted my friends Asher and Timothy hunched over near one of the potted plants, trying to hide the fact that they’d snuck their 3DS’s into school.  The three of us had all grown up together, having slumber parties together and always going trick-or-Treat with one another.  We were all practically inseparable, and they’d been there for me when Mom died.  Therefore, I knew that no matter what, even if Dad was having difficulty coming to terms with it, my best friends would remain faithfully by my side throughout this entire ordeal.

“Hey guys!” I waved at them as I approached, slinging my backpack off of my shoulders to snatch my 3DS out of it.  “I caught a shiny Mantine the other day, and I’m ready to wreck your teams.  So I call facing the winner.”

Timothy, no lie, just up and walked off without a single word or expression on his face towards me.  Eh, he probably just had to go to the bathroom real quick.  He’ll be back.

“Wanna battle?” I asked Asher, already setting up the Quick Link on _Pokémon UltraSun_ so that I could connect to his 3DS.  I really needed a distraction from all of the B.S. going on with Caleb, and playing video games with my best friends sounded absolutely perfect.  The only thing better would have been if Dad had allowed me to hang out with him today— no, it would’ve been best if Caleb had never existed, just sayin’.

Asher shuffled his feet and a red blush began to form on his pale face.  “S-sorry, Dakota,” he murmured, “but my mom said that I can’t hang out with you anymore or else she’ll take away my iPad.”

I closed my 3DS shut and took a step back in shock.  “What?” I cried.  “What did she find out?” I swear that I’m a good kid, but there was this one time when I’d tried on his mom’s bra— but it was a dare!  If she found out, then I’ll die of embarrassment!

He bit down on his lower lip, shaking his head.  “It’s not about the bra…”  Oh thank God!  “…she said that she doesn’t want me to hang around with a pet human.”

There was a collapsing feeling inside of my chest as the weight of my friend’s words pressed down onto me: He wasn’t allowed to be my friend anymore because of my Mating Gene? I knew that some people would be a little uncomfortable with hanging around a guy who had a possessive werewolf after him unnerving.  However, I’d been under the impression that my best friends would’ve stuck by my side through thick and thin— I would’ve tried to help them out if they’d been born with this disease!

“W-well, I won’t tell your mom if you don’t,” I hopefully offered, not wanting to lose my friends all because of Caleb.  I’ll already lose Dad in a few years when I turn eighteen, but I didn’t want to start losing people right now!  This was all happening way too quickly, and I was having trouble mentally keeping up, wanting nothing more to just run home and hide underneath my covers for the rest of my life.

Asher took a large step away from me, still shaking his head back and forth.  “No, that’s cool,” he cringed.  “I gotta be honest, Dakota, I’m also uncomfortable because I don’t wanna catch fleas.  My parents just had our carpets cleaned, so they’d kill me if I brought bugs home.”

Their carpets were immaculate.  “I understand,” I sighed, my shoulders dropping in shame as I realized that in under two minutes, I’d just lost my two best friends in the whole wide world all because of Caleb.

“Thanks for gettin’ it,” Asher breathed with relief.  “Good luck!”  With that, he tore down the hallway, rapidly disappearing from view and from my life.

Okay, so just the other day my life had been completely turned up onto its head.  I’d discovered that I carry the Mating Gene, and that had resulted in me getting paired up with Caleb: a werewolf in Texas who has incredibly stupid hair!  It was all because of him that my dad seemed to be distancing himself from me, and why Timothy and Asher no longer wanted to be my friends!  What else could go wrong all within this hellish twenty-four hour period?

“Dakota!” I overheard a shrill voice call from down the hall, sending a cold shiver of fear deep down into my soul.  I knew that voice, and as soon as I turned around, my head began to ache as I saw Mrs. Thatcher making her way towards me.

Mrs. Thatcher was the vice principal of my school and she was also in charge of all disciplinary action… so the both of us were very well acquainted.  As she made her way towards me, her ice blue eyes glared my way, seemingly shooting daggers into my body.  Her withered face was set into her usual frown, which always deepened whenever I showed up.  However, I actually hadn’t misbehaved (yet) today, so there shouldn’t have been any reason as to why she’d want to speak to me.

“Yeah?” I answered, quickly stuffing my 3DS into my backpack so that she wouldn’t try to confiscate it.

“ _Yes_!” she corrected.  “Enunciate and speak properly, Mr. Indovino.  How will anyone ever take you seriously if you refuse to hold yourself—”

“What?” I gasped, nearly dropping everything in my hands at the name that Mrs. Thatcher had called me.  “What did you just call me?” There was no way— I must’ve misheard her because I hadn’t even turned in my paperwork yet so there was no possible way that the school could’ve known Caleb’s last name.  Although, even if they had, then that wouldn’t explain as to why she was trying to affix it to me!

I swear that the vice principal’s eyes widened and I could see into her brain, wincing at the mental pictures that she owned which seemed to involve me dying a very painful and slow death.  “Do not interrupt, Mr. Indovino,” she grilled through clenched teeth.  “Now, follow me to my office, and move with purpose.”  The woman spun around on her heels, briskly fast-walking through the halls, the eyes of students growing terrified as soon as she passed them by.

I fought hard to keep up with her, still struggling to figure out why she’d referred to my last name as Indovino— that’s not my last name!  My last name is Winters!  “Hey!” I panted, nearly out of breath as we rounded the left corner near the end of the main hall.  “Why’d ya call me ‘Indovino’?”

Mrs. Thatcher’s shoulders tensed up and her gray hair nearly burst into flames.  “I will pretend that I didn’t just hear you use a contraction like a common folk, and not someone of education and privilege,” she hissed, reminding me of one of those harsh British nannies that I’d seen on TV.  “However, to answer your question, we have received a message from your, *ahem, new guardian who has stated that he would prefer us to use his last name from now on on all of your official records.”

“Is that even legal?” I whined, trailing behind the vice principal into her office, not even bothering to be careful with the large wooden door, allowing it to slam shut loudly behind me.  Mrs. Thatcher’s office was a familiar setting… actually, I think that I might’ve spent more time in here than in my classrooms whenever I bothered to go to school.

She exhaled sharply and took a seat at the large mahogany desk in the center of the room, shuffling through some pressed papers that were in front of the flat computer monitor.  “We have just received the paperwork from the Alpha of Sabine County,” she muttered, holding up a piece of white paper with a bunch of blurry-looking lines all over it.  However, at the bottom right-hand corner, I could barely make out the circular shape of what looked like an official seal— Caleb had legit changed my last name.

Winters is a very dignified and respected name within San Francisco County— a surname that demands the upmost admiration from my peers because they know who and what my father is/does.  Plus, my grandma on my dad’s side owns several blocks in the Tenderloin District.  People know and cherish the Winters!

However, I was now technically no longer a member of that category because Caleb had turned me into an Indovino.  I’ve never even met one, so there was no doubt in my mind that humans in my county will no longer be all like, “Dakota Winters? Oh yeah, he’s that fine lookin’ guy livin’ it up in Pacific Heights.”  Now they’ll be all like, “Dakota Indovino? Oh yeah, he’s that ugly ass who’s paired up with a dog fo’ life!”

Dammit!

“Have a seat, Mr. Indovino,” Mrs. Thatcher sighed, clicking away on the keyboard in front of her, her manicured claws looking eerily sharp. 

I hesitantly plopped down onto the hard, plastic chair that was on the other side of the desk, forced to wait in silence as the vice principal looked up something on her computer, her thin lips pressed into a fine line.  The clock that was mounted on the far wall ticked loudly, and I could practically feel the blood rushing through my ears as I waited in anticipation.  I had no clue why I was called to the vice principal’s office, but I seriously doubted that it was for a good thing.  That kinda stuff just didn’t happen to me quite often.

“So…” Mrs. Thatcher droned on, her eyes glued to the glowing screen in front of her, “the school has been presented with your test results, and as the Werewolf-Human Treaty of 1973 states, the school is required to enroll you into some classes designed to assist you in assimilating into Werewolf Culture.”

Ugh, so that was why I’d been called here? To sign up for Werewolf Home Ec?

“That being said, because you are St. Francis’s first human mate, we are ill-equipped to fit you into a proper classroom setting.”

My spine straightened and I couldn’t help but feel that shit-eating smile form on my flawless face.  If the school couldn’t give me the werewolf classes, then I guess that means that I won’t have to take them, right? “Oh darn,” I mocked, “I guess I should just head on to first period then?” I made a move to grab my book bag so that I could leave the stuffy office, but with one icy stare from Mrs. Thatcher, I froze in place.  How does she do that?

“Actually,” she sneered, “because of the lack of resources, the school has been presented with two options from our generous Alpha.”

I nearly gagged at her positive comments regarding Alpha… that jerk.  “What options?” I pressed.  I was finally interested in what this old bag of bones had to say because it seemed as if there would be some alternative to having to be enrolled in some idiotic classes that would essentially boil down to: “Obey Your Werewolf” or “Pick Up After Your Werewolf in All Public Areas”.

Mrs. Thatcher’s pale face reddened and she scowled as she attempted to relay the first option to me.  “Because I have special training in Werewolf Culture,” she winced, “the first option presented would be for you to come to my office where I will be a private tutor to you, from three to five every day after school.”

Fuck that!

“Eww!” I cringed out loud, slapping my hands over my mouth as soon as I noticed my slip up.  “Uh, I mean, ‘What’s the next one?’”

“You can enroll in online courses,” she answered, trying to put on a sweet tone that indicated that she hoped I’d take that offer instead of the first one.  Well, this is definitely the first time I’ll ever agree with the vice principal.

“That one!” I blurted.  “I’ll take the online one, please.”

“Oh, thank God,” she sighed, putting her wrinkled hand up to her heart.  “Now, I will contact Alpha and inform him of your decision and he will send someone out to your residence to set up the program.”

To be honest, I couldn’t care less if there was going to be yet another werewolf in my house.  I was just over the moon that there was the possibility that I wouldn’t have to take the courses and instead just open up the program and walk off, doing literally anything else with my precious time.  For real, my time was far too important for me to be wasting it on some lame-o class where I’d just learn about werewolves.  They have _Tumblr_ for that.

I slammed the manila folder down onto Mrs. Thatcher’s desk, getting ready to go about my day which could only go up since it’d started off crappy.  “So, am I free to go?” I asked.

“Not so fast, Mr. Indovino,” she snapped, narrowing her creepy eyes at me as she relaxed deeper into her chair.  “I know that you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot due to my no-nonsense attitude and you… well, you, but I would be remiss in my duties as an educator not to implore you to take the classes seriously.  Understand?”

“What does ‘Remiss’ mean?” I wondered.

She pinched the skin above her nose in irritation.  “If you do not take the required classes, which  are monitored by the United States Government,” she warned, “then that is grounds for early transfer to your werewolf.  Understand that?”

Blah, blah, blah!  I have a Mac, those things are pretty much indestructible, so I’m fairly sure that I can figure out a way to not have my classes traced on it.  I’m willing to bet that this old lady is just trying to scare me, like the time when she’d warned me that P.E. would actually matter in life— to this day, I still haven’t ran the mile, and with no consequences yet.

“So, am I free to go?” I repeated, growing antsy with the prospect of this stupid meeting being over.

Mrs. Thatcher huffed and nodded.  “Yes,” she shrugged.  “Just keep in mind that being a werewolf’s mate is a very serious responsibility and you need to be prepared to behave accordingly.  Some werewolves tend to have possessive streaks, so if I were you, I would do a major overhaul on my attitude.”

“I think you should do an overhaul too,” I whispered under my breath as I gathered up my backpack and slipped out of the office, happily skipping to my first class.  I knew for a fact that having this Mating Gene would definitely cause my life to flipped upside-down, but I also knew that at the end of the day, werewolves virtually obsess over their mates.  

I can possibly find a way to get away with anything I want with Caleb.  Starting with those stupid classes that I will so not take.

**(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و**

“…and it was so stupid!” I complained as Dad drove me home from school where I’d had to wait for two hours after school let out in the library since he’d been busy trying to hunt down his boyfriend.  “I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!”  

Today had been the worst day at school ever!  I’d been subjected to cold-shoulders, people laughing at me, teachers being too nervous to even talk to me (eh, that one wasn’t too bad), and having the principal inform me that I wasn’t allowed to go on to the field trip to the Exploratorium next week unless Caleb faxed over a signed permission slip for me.

I’d already forged Dad’s signature, so why do they need Caleb’s signature too? So unfair…

Dad turned the radio volume up by two notches, blasting NPR.  “Look, Dakota,” he sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair, “I don’t like it at all, but the Law says that me and this… Carl? I don’t remember his name, but unfortunately me and this dog are now co-guardians.  Unless he consumes human flesh, my hands are tied.”

Yeah, Caleb’s form had mentioned that he had not eaten a human, dammit!

“Okay, but still,” I continued, noticing Dad’s shoulders tensing up, “I don’t even know the guy, Dad!  And he called me last night and was really creepy!”

“Then turn off your phone at night.”

“I broke my phone, speaking of which, I need another one.  But this time, can I get a red one?”

Dad huffed and shook his head.  “Yeah, I can get you one later today,” he muttered.  “Oh, and Sofia told me in her resignation that the Beta was over at the house earlier to set up a program on your Mac.  Make sure you take those classes so that I won’t get in trouble with Alpha, got it?” 

Sofia quit? I hope that it wasn’t because of my Mating Gene.

“Do I have to?” I whined, rolling my head back on the headrest.  I don’t want to do my homework, let alone some extra classes.  Whatever.

Dad just glared at me from the side, clenching his jaw meaning that he really wanted me to do so.  Oh well, I don’t want him to get in trouble with Alpha, so I suppose for Dad’s sake, I can take the classes or at least pay someone to take them for me.

It just really sucked ass that I was expected to change my life all around when I seriously doubted that Caleb was doing anything on his part.  Come to think of it, he was probably just kicking up his feet and relaxing in Texas… doing whatever they do in Texas.  I bet he’s at a rodeo.

Dad pulled up in front of the house and unlocked the car doors before turning to me.  “Me and Enrique are gonna meet up and talk at a cafe, so I’ll be home later tonight,” he sighed, reaching into the backseat to hand me my backpack.  “Go inside and start those classes, ‘kay?”

Oh, Dad wasn’t going to be home for a while? “Um, are you sure that you don’t wanna come inside and help me out with the classes?” I asked, hoping that he’d come upstairs with me.  I know that I may act tough and all bad ass, but I was shaking in my shoes at the thought of having to do all of these weird classes that would only serve to make me feel even more helpless about my situation.

Dad glanced at the time on the radio.  “Dakota, I’m running late,” he urged, nodding at the door and handing me the spare key.  “Hurry up.”

I opened up the door and got out of the car.  “Okay,” I relented.  “See you la—”

Dad sped off, not even letting me finish my sentence.  

Oh well, he was really busy and I knew that his relationship with Enrique meant the world to him.  There really was no point in trying to force him to do anything that he didn’t want to, I guess. 

I slumped inside the empty house and trudged up the ornate staircase to my bedroom.  Once in there, I even locked the door and tossed my backpack to the ground.  Normally whenever I got home from school, I would immediately go online and read manga or watch anime until it was time to go to sleep.  However, now I would be forced to take some stupid classes, feeling like I was going to school after school.

That’s just cruel and unusual, just sayin’.

“ _Hey, Dakota!  How did school go?_ ” I heard Caleb’s voice ask from somewhere in the sanctity of my own bedroom.

“What the hell?!” I cried, leaping nearly five feet up in the air, whipping my head around as I desperately tried to find out where the werewolf was in my house.  I knew that he’d managed to uncover where I went to school, but how the heck did he find out where I live? My heart was beating wildly and I couldn’t keep my hands still.

“ _Don’t be scared, Dakota_ ,” Caleb cooed, trying to sound all soothing as he used his previously soft voice.  “ _Look at your computer._ ”

I turned around and my jaw dropped in horror as I saw that the blue light on the top part of my Mac was lit up, indicating that my camera was on.  Oh, on the large screen was Caleb’s smiling face as he happily waved at me.  His grin was so large that it took up a majority of his face and he was all clean shaven with his hair neatly combed to the side as if he had spent some time on his appearance for a frickin’ video chat.

“ _I think your phone’s malfunctioning ‘cause I couldn’t get a hold of you_ ,” he explained.  “ _So I had your Alpha who had his Beta set up FaceTime for us._ ”

This fuckin’ fool was trying to get the werewolves in my county to help him spy on me!  What ever happened to mutual respect and personal privacy? The nerve of some people; I have half a mind to call Animal Control on his furry ass!

Caleb pursed his stubble-framed lips as he glanced around my bedroom from the computer screen.  “ _Wow_ ,” he mused, even letting out a tiny whistle, “ _that’s uh, quite a nice place ya got there._ ”  He seemed to bite the inside of his cheek as he moved a muscled arm (damn, he is jacked!) to reposition his camera so that I couldn’t see the shack that he dubbed a house behind him.  From what I could see earlier, whatever room that he was in was extremely tiny… not even as large as my bathroom!  How on Earth could anyone expect me to go from luxurious San Francisco to barnyard Texas? Talk about culture shock.

“Yeah…” I slurred, not really sure what to even say.  A part of me wanted to chew him out for behaving as if chilling on video chat waiting for me to come home was a totally natural act, and another part of me wanted to just get this done and over with.  However, there did exist a third part which wondered what the heck had been up his ass last night.  For real though, Caleb seemed to flip-flop between two different personalities: one who was all cheery and happy-go-lucky, and another who was all growly and domineering.  Of course I get the two-faced werewolf as a mate, ugh.

“ _You’re kinda quiet.  Is everything alright?_ ” Caleb asked, cocking his head to the side.  “ _Was school okay today?_ ”

Clearing my throat, I prepared to get down to the root of Caleb’s damage.  “So, um,” I coughed, “what was up with last night’s phone call?”

Caleb’s smile fell and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.  “ _Last night?_ ” he repeated.  “ _I don’t understand, Dakota.  We didn’t talk last night, remember? I didn’t get a call from you._ ”

I jerked back and rushed over to the Mac, plopping my fine ass down into the seat in disbelief.  Why is this dude always lyin’? He had totally called me last night and had scared the crap out of me!  What the hell is his problem?  

“Yes you did,” I countered, scoffing at the end of my statement.  “You called me up last night and was all growling and shit.  Then you said that you’d own me when I turn eighteen.  What does that even mean?”

Caleb’s eyes widened and I heard his breath catch in his throat.  “ _Wh-what?_ ” he gasped.  “ _Are you sure?_ ” 

“Yes, I’m sure!” I cried, throwing my hands up in exasperation.  “And you said that you knew where my school was and all of that shit!”

“ _Well, first of all, Dakota, I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be using such foul language_ ,” he mumbled.

“Bitch, what?”

“ _And secondly, I don’t recall makin’ those calls._ ”  He ran a thick hand through his styled hair.  “ _But if it makes you sleep any better, then I can ask my brother to hold onto my phone at night.  He and his son live here with me, wouldja like to meet him?_ ” His smile made a reappearance on his face and all traces of worry disappeared in an instance.

Man, I didn’t even wanna talk to Caleb, so why would I want to talk to another werewolf? “Eh, I think I’m good—”

“ _Leif!_ ” Caleb called over his shoulder.  “ _Come meet my boy!_ ”

I fought hard with all of my might not to roll my eyes or show any visible signs of annoyance when I heard the click-clacking sounds of nails hitting the wooden floorboards of Caleb’s house.  In the background, I saw a large gray wolf trot into whatever room Caleb was in, walking right up to his side.  He was huge and nearly towered over the man even when he sat down, his giant muzzle stocked full of pencil-length fangs.

“ _Woof!_ ” the wolf, I guess Leif, barked.

“ _Dakota, this is my big brother, Leif_ ,” Caleb introduced us.  “ _Leif, this is my boy, Dakota._ ”

The wolf just nodded my way before swiftly turning around to slowly slump out of the room, his head hung low and his tail not even moving as he walked.  

“So, um,” I muttered, “your brother’s… a wolf.  Like, an actual wolf.”

Caleb clenched his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck worriedly.  “ _Yeah_ ,” he huffed, “ _I don’t know if he’d want me to tell ya this, but you will be livin’ with us soon…  Leif’s mate passed away last year, and ever since he’s been in his wolf form ‘cause it’s too painful for him to be in his human form.  But he’s safe, don’t worry._ ”

So let me get this straight: When I turn eighteen, not only will I be forced to live with Caleb, but I’d also have to live with a full-grown wolf… like with giant teeth and claws out twenty-four/seven?! There’s no way I want that to happen!  Why does life hate me so much?!

I used to have a fabulous life of electronics and trips to the Pier.  But now I was going to have to trade all of that away for a life in a crummy shack with two werewolves, one of which was constantly in his wolf form!  Talk about a downfall!

“Caleb, I gotta go,” I rushed.  “I have to start my online Werewolf Culture classes.”

“ _Hey!_ ” Caleb mock-whined, playfully sticking out his lower lip.  “ _I asked you to call me ‘Daddy’, remember? I am your legal guardian now, so I figure that it’ll help with the transition of you gettin’ used to me._ ”

Oh, that was why?

“ _And I can’t shake the feeling that you’re not exactly thrilled with our… connection_ ,” he frowned.  “ _So please, just tell me what to do to make it better.  Whatever it is, I’ll do it— I promise._ ”  He held his large hands out in front of him, his older face looking pleading as he asked me his question.

I wasn’t thrilled with this predicament.  Dad and Enrique had told me time and time again that werewolves aren’t safe; I repeat: WEREWOLVES ARE NOT SAFE!  I wasn’t looking forward to being required by law to move in with one once I become a legal adult.  I wasn’t looking forward to virtually being the property of one who lies straight up to my face— I knew that he’d called me last night so I have no clue why he would dare to deny that he did right to my beautiful face.

Fuck him and fuck his lies.

“ _But, I really do hope that you gimme your address_ ,” Caleb pressed, “ _since I wasn’t trying to scare you yesterday.  Besides, I already went out today and got you your birthday present.”_ He reached over to grab the gift off of whatever it was sitting on, pulling the gift-wrapped box in front of the computer screen for me to see.  “ _See? I hope you like it._ ”

I’m thirteen going on fourteen, so suffice it to say, my boyish brain can sometimes be allured by brightly wrapped boxes that promise cool gifts on my birthday.  However, my dad had been rather adamant that I do not give out our address to the werewolf.

“Um,” I paused, my eyes glued to the box that Caleb held in his clutches as he gave it a small shake to rumble the contents around.  It sounds heavy… could it be a Switch with neon-colored joycons?! “My father said that I’m not allowed to give you our address.  But I can give you his business’s P.O. Box.”  Compromise— how mature of me.

“ _P.O. Box?_ ” Caleb frowned, setting the gift down onto the desk he sat at.  “ _I, uh, I guess I can send it to there… B-but, please tell me why your old man won’t let ya give me your address.  ‘Cause I’m sure he’s aware that the only way I can even dream of going to San Francisco County is if I get permission from your Alpha and then purchase my ticket.  And we don’t have an airport here in Sabine County, so I’d need permission from other Alphas just to fly there._ ”

Hmm, now that I think about it, San Francisco County uses the airport in San Mateo County, so then Caleb would have to get permission from that Alpha too… who believed in open borders as long as it was the airport.  Whatever, either way, he definitely would have his work cut out for him apparently.  How awesome!

“ _…and that’s not even including the cost of the ticket there and back._ ”

So from what I understood, it would be a lot of work and money (at least to him) to fly out here to San Francisco to kidnap me.  That was the best news that I’ve ever received!  Still though, I wasn’t going to break.

“Oh, okay,” I shrugged.  “Well, like I said, I have to start my online course—”

Caleb perked up, his canine fangs poking out of his mouth as he grinned widely again.  “ _You know that I can help you out with that_ ,” he offered, nodding his head as if to subliminally influence me.  “ _Just minimize the FaceTime app and open up your browser and I will help you study and can answer any questions you may have.  Go ahead, start it up._ ”

Why?

What kind of awful thing had I done in order to receive such negative karma? I’d wanted Dad to help me out with my Werewolf Culture studies, not Caleb!  Knowing him (and I barely did, to be honest), he’d most likely try to spin the sections around in his favor, attempting to make it sound like everything was alright all because he’s a werewolf.  He’d try to make it sound like a good thing.

“I don’t know…”

“ _Oh, come on, Dakota_ ,” he pressed.  “ _Just open it up, and if after five minutes you think that you don’t want my help, then I’ll leave you alone.  Deal?_ ”

This guy was so persistent, and if I ended the call with him, then he would just call back since there’s no way I’d smash my Mac.  “Fine,” I groaned, minimizing the app so that I couldn’t see Caleb, yet I knew that the call was still ongoing since the blue light was still gleaming.

On my desktop, I saw an icon in the top left corner of the screen that was labeled _Werewolf Culture, Ver. 5.9_.  I clicked on it and saw the program boot up, a loading screen popping up onto my screen.  Then there was a little form that asked for my information, but I had to zoom in on the page a little bit because I didn’t want Caleb to see me wearing my glasses… I don’t want werewolves thinking I’m weird, how ironic would that be?

“ _Are you on the first section yet?_ ”

“It’s just an info screen,” I answered, typing in my information in the required boxes.  Unfortunately, when I reached the last name portion, I knew that I had to type in “Indovino” all thanks to a certain jerk who wouldn’t leave me the hell alone!

Once all of my information was plugged in, the program loaded up some more and displayed some legal jumbo that I just agreed to and then scrolled down to select the next section.  The program was excruciatingly boring as it looked more like a Pages document with black text over a plain, white background.  No lie, I might as well have been reading a textbook like some guy from the ancient times before there was technology.  *Shudder.

“ _You there yet?_ ” Caleb asked.  “ _Just read aloud when you get there and I will help you by jotting down some notes in my textbook copy for the test sections._ ”

“There’s tests?!” I cried, feeling the incredible urge to projectile vomit all over my bedroom. 

It was bad enough that I had to take this frickin’ course in the first place, but now I was forced to take tests as well? That’s child abuse!  

Nevertheless, with my arms crossed in front of me, I began to read aloud from the first section that was outlined on the program: “‘ _Thank you for using Introduction to Werewolf Culture, Version 5.9.  Copyrighted in 2001 in Silicon Valley for education uses.  The  unauthorized distribution of this program—_ ‘“

“ _Um, Dakota, that’s just the disclaimer_ ,” Caleb oh-so rudely interrupted me.  “ _Here, let me read my copy: ‘_ Congratulations on being paired up to a Werewolf.  This course is designed to assist you in integrating you into life with your new Werewolf Mate.  The first and foremost thing that you should be aware of is—‘”

“Ugh!  Caleb, this is so boring!” I whined, slamming my head down onto my desk.  “Can’t I just not do this?”

I heard Caleb chuckle on the app and I reopened his browser so that his faceless voice wouldn’t creep me out so much.  “ _Dakota_ ,” he laughed, his face reddening, “ _it’s federal law that you take this course, so I’m gonna have to put my foot down and tell you that you will take this course._ ”

“Why do you care so much about the law?” I scoffed, even scrunching up my face out of sheer disgust.

Again, Caleb chuckled and shook his head, amused by my outburst.  “ _Dakota, I was in the Marines, so yes.  I highly respect the law and expect you to follow it as well_.”

“So… you swam in the ocean?”  Marines? Like, marine biology?

Caleb knitted his eyebrows together in wonder, scratching at his stubble in thought.  “ _N-no_ ,” he stammered.  “ _I was in the military, but I got medically discharged._ ”

“What’s wrong with you?” I snorted, running my eyes up and down him as I tried to find out why he’d retire medically.  It may have been a little forward of a question, but I was growing curious.  Plus, Dad had mentioned that I really needed to work on gaining a filter.

Caleb’s smile fell and he bit down lightly on his lower lip as some blush formed on his cheeks.  “ _It’s a…_ ” he droned, his yellow eyes darting around nervously, “ _I’ll tell you later.  B-but hey, that’s a nice, uh, shirt you got on there.  Where’d you get it?_ ”

It really was a nice shirt.  It was woven out of one-hundred percent Egyptian cotton and was a one of a kind design.  “I got it from a store on Ashbury,” I said, looking down at it as I poked at the soft fabric.  “Dad bought it for me.  It was one-hundred fifty dollars.”

Caleb’s eyes widened and his slowly moved the wrapped gift that he’d bought for me out of sight of the camera.  “ _Oh wow_ ,” he mused.  “ _Th-that’s a lot of money._ ”

No it’s not.

The shadows on Caleb’s screen darkened as I assumed the sun where he was was setting since there was a difference in time due to the zones we’re in.  As soon as they cast across his chiseled face, Caleb’s eyes squeezed shut and he froze in his spot.  “ _Uh, w-well, I really loved talking to you_ ,” he stuttered, his fangs… growing larger? “ _But I have to get going real quick.  Wanna chat tomorrow morning?_ ”

Nope.

“Um, well how about I just give you my dad’s P.O. Box so that you can send me my gift,” I offered instead.  I know that he’s a dangerous werewolf, but a gift is a gift.

“ _Oh, uh, sure.  Just please make it quick._ ”  Caleb looked really worried, some sweat starting to bead up on his forehead as he gritted his large teeth.  Hmm, now that I notice it, even his ears started to look a little bit bigger and pointier… kinda like those inumimi guys in manga, the ones with dog tails and ears.  What was going on?

“It’s P.O. Box 62328 in San Francisco—”

“ _Fuck!_ ” Caleb roared with a deeper and rougher voice as he grabbed at his hair with both hands, his ears growing pointy and fuzzy at the same time.  Was he wolfing out on FaceTime? “ _Hang up!  Now!  Hang up and don’t answer my calls until morning!_ ”

This was severely creeping me out.  I slowly scooted my chair away from the computer, eying the growling man with terrified eyes as his hulking body was overcome with tremors, his growls turning into snarls that sent cold shivers down my spine.  Caleb was really scaring me right now with his snarls that sounded like they’d been ripped right out of a horror movie and his horrifying monster teeth that were perfect for ripping the throats out of his enemies. 

He’s a monster, I fully comprehend that right now.

“ _Pup? Are you still there?_ ” Caleb growled, his voice exactly like it had been when he’d called me last night.  He remained facing the desk in front of him, but I could tell now that his ears had fully shifted into their wolf form, yet the rest of his body appeared to be human.  The shadows in his house had completely taken over by now, signifying that the sun had fully set.  It was nighttime there.

There was something definitely even more wrong with this situation.  Caleb wasn’t himself, and the shift in personality had occurred all within an extremely, exaggeratedly short amount of time.  It left me stunned silent and my lower jaw quivered as I tried to come up with something to say to the werewolf.

“ _Answer Daddy!_ ” Caleb barked, whipping his head upwards so that he could stare me down with his glowing, yellow eyes that pierced through the nighttime perfectly.  Sure enough, his fangs had fully protruded and his wolf ears stuck out kinda comically from his head.  “ _Just so you know, when you get here, I expect you to answer me every single time I ask you a question, got it?”_

Wh-what is going on around here?

My breath was caught in my throat and I fought hard to even move my body.  It refused to respond to any sort of mental command as my frightened eyes remained glued to Caleb’s smirking wolfish face.  He displayed his fangs menacingly, chuckling to himself as he took in my whimpering form.  What was happening to him?

I could barely make out the sounds of running in the background behind Caleb, and before I knew it, Leif burst into the room.

Caleb’s nostrils flared and he angrily shoved himself away from the desk, jumping around to stare down his brother… oh shit, Caleb had even sprouted a fucking tail.  He really was an inumimi, but instead of the cutesy and cuddly ones that I’ve read about in manga, he’d become a growling and apparently villainous one.  The snarl of pure ferociousness that he unleashed at his intruding brother was so deafening that I swore the windows in my house trembled a little bit… and so did I.

I couldn’t suppress the whimper that escaped from me, noting how Caleb’s wolf-ear twitched at the sound, which further deepened his growl.

“ _You’re scaring my boy!  Get outta here!_ ” he shouted at Leif who just snorted.  

“ _Woof_ ,” Leif lazily muttered, rolling his yellow eyes.

“ _No!  He’s mine!  Don’t go near that machine!  He’s MY boy!_ ” Caleb roared, apparently infuriated by whatever Leif had said.  Caleb’s claws elongated out from his hands, looking like Wolverine… or more aptly Deathstrike because they came out of his fingers.

Leif responded by letting out a snarl of his own, this one much deeper and creepier than Caleb’s.  His gray hair stood up on his back and his upper lip curled upwards, showing off all of his nightmare-inducing wolf teeth.  He lunged forward, and despite being on a computer screen, I couldn’t prevent the scream of utter terror that slipped out of me at the sight.  Leif dodged a swing from Caleb’s clawed arm, sprinting towards the computer where he dashed out of sight as he went underneath the desk.

Then the call ended.  The app’s screen went black and there was no sound, more importantly, there was no more growling.

What the fuck had just happened?

Caleb and I had been having an okay, albeit annoying, video chat and then as soon as the sun had set on his side, he’d lost his shit.  I have no clue what his damage was, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that I was not safe in this situation.  I don’t want anything to do with werewolves at all!  They are dangerous creatures and will only hurt me.

I don’t care what will happen, I closed the Werewolf Culture program that was opened up on my Mac and crawled into bed, shivering underneath the covers as I attempted to repress the memory of the terrifying noises that Caleb and Leif had made.  

Caleb is a monster… and truth be told, he scares the crap out of me.  Therefore, I straight up refuse to have anymore contact with him.  I will not be taking those classes, I will not be calling him, and I will definitely not be having anymore video chats with him.  Caleb is etched out of my life, and that’s perfectly fine with me.

What’s the worse thing that could happen anyway?


	6. Animal I Have Become

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to complaints and this getting removed from other sites for indecency, I have bumped Dakota's age from 13 to 17. Nothing else has changed in the story except for that. Sorry to alter it midway!

“Animal I Have Become” - Three Days Grace

_So what if you can see the darkest side of me? / No one would ever change this animal I have become / And help me believe it’s not the real me / Somebody help me tame this animal_

**V●ᴥ●V**   
****

**[Caleb, Present Day]**   
****

Oh crud, my head hurt like a motherfucker.  
 ****

Gritting my teeth, I placed a shaky hand to my temple, wincing when I could feel the bump that had formed there most likely from my wolf’s shenanigans.  Son of a bitch, he gets on my nerves.

_Fuck you too, Caleb_ , he snorted.

Yeah, we don’t quite get along.

_I fuckin’ hate you._

We have a strong dislike for one another, but it’s nothing we can’t work out.  I always like to look on the bright side of things.  I mean, sure, my inner wolf and I may not be on the best of terms right now, however, as soon as our precious Dakota comes to live with us, then I’m sure that the two of us will be able to work in tandem in order to be the best werewolf for our mate.  After all, there’s nothing more important to a werewolf than their mate.  My inner wolf must feel and recognize that too; even though he may not be as well-rehearsed in Human Culture as I am, he must understand the vitality of the situation at hand when it comes to courting Dakota.  I mean, it must be a very difficult—

_Shut up!  It’s too early to deal with your Mr. Rogers, sunshiney bullshit!_ he barked, thrashing underneath my skin as he struggled to take control.

Luckily, because the sun was up, I had absolutely no difficulty keeping him contained deep down inside.  I even smirked a little bit.  Slowly, I opened up my eyes, wincing at the bright Texas sun that beat down on me.  I stretched out my limbs until my back popped, relieving some of the tension that had built up in my body.

“ _It’s about time you’re up_ ,” my brother, Leif, scoffed as he sat in his wolf form right beside me.  “ _I tried to wake you up before Aidan saw, but you were knocked the fuck out._ ”  He was silent for a bit, eyeing me up and down with his yellow and judgmental eyes.  “ _Do, um, do you remember anything?_ ”

I lifted my head off the ground, not even a little surprised that I was naked and lying out in the dirt on the shore of the section of the lake that was on my property.  Scratching at the hair on my head, I tried to peek into my memories over what had gone down last night.  Unfortunately, like always, my memory did not cover anything that had occurred after the sun began to set.  Everything had been whited out.

“Not really,” I admitted, groaning as I struggled up onto my feet, incredibly sore from whatever my inner wolf had done last night.  He usually likes to run around in the forest surrounding the property, so he most likely added a couple more miles based on how my calves throbbed with each step towards my house that I took.  Luckily, I owned several acres of land, so there were no nearby neighbors who would be able to see my nude form at all.  The only one I had to worry about was Leif’s nine year-old son, Aidan, but he was most likely in the bathroom getting ready for school.

Leif’s ears flattened against his head and he nervously shifted his front paws in the dirt.  “ _Um, why don’t you try to recall what had happened just before your wolf took over_ ,” he muttered, not meeting me in the eye.

Uh, okay?

As Leif and I made our way back towards my small home, I fought hard to recall the events of last night.  Let’s see, I’d contacted the Alpha of San Francisco County to set up a video chat date with my mate.  Then I got to talk to Dakota, who has the most beautiful smile in the world I must add.  I mean, damn, I’ve never seen anything more gorgeous in all my years on Earth.  He’s beautiful and I cannot wait to see it in person and to wake up next to it every morning.  But I need to stay focused!  Okay, so I got to talk to my Baby, and I helped him out with his online Werewolf Culture classes.  Then the sun began to set and…

Oh no.

I could feel the blood drain from my face as horror dawned on me.

“ _Yeah…_ ” Leif groaned, realizing that I’d remembered a little bit from yesterday before my wolf had taken over.

Son of a bitch!  I’d been talking to my Dakota, trying to get his address so that I could send him the birthday gift I’d made for him, and then I’d lost track of time and the sun had set.  And because I’m so fucking stupid and hadn’t thought ahead, he’d caught a glimpse of my wolf taking over my body like he always does when the sun goes down.  Dammit!  He must’ve been so afraid!

“Was it bad?” I groaned, rubbing at my face in irritation, closing my eyes as I braced myself for the worse.

Leif was silent for a little bit.  “ _Uh… no?_ ” His voice cracked in his answer.

“D-did he see everything?” I asked, praying that Dakota had ended the chat midway through my transformation so that he wouldn’t have gotten frightened by my inner wolf’s aggressive behavior.  He and I are night and day, completely.  Call me a bit of a narcissist, I guess, but I’m way nicer than my inner wolf and I have a basic understanding of how to speak to humans without threatening their lives.  Therefore, I’d hoped to have kept him away from my mate as long as possible.

Leif didn’t answer me, making my shoulders droop in agony.

“Dammit!” I hissed through clenched teeth.  This fucking sucks!  I’ve been waiting twenty-nine long years to finally have a mate of my own, and now that I finally have a boy who’s going to be all mine in a year, my inner wolf ha to go and fuck it all up for me!

_I didn’t do anything wrong_ , my inner wolf scoffed.  _I was being honest while you’re too busy trying to play all Pretend, actin’ like you’re some damn nice guy._

I could feel my jaw harden as I forced my wolf down into my core, refusing to listen to his whining for a minute more.  “I suppose I should do some damage control,” I sighed, dropping my hands to my side as I continued to drag my feet up the dirt path to my home.  The sliding glass door had been left open and when I got inside, I wrinkled up my nose in a mixture of disgust and humiliation when I could smell my own sexual release detectable somewhere within the small dwelling.

Thankfully, Leif didn’t call me out on it.  “ _Maybe you should give him some time?_ ” he suggested, trotting inside the house right behind me.  “ _Humans are easily frightened creatures— worse than chihuahuas!  Poor kid looked about ready to shit his pants at the sight of you._ ”

There was a cold shiver that worked its way through my midsection as my heart skipped a beat at the knowledge that I’d scared my poor Baby so badly.  Of course things couldn’t be easy for me, not even a little bit.  Sighing, I looked around my office, inspecting the mess that I must’ve created when my inner wolf had taken over of my body.  The chair had been toppled over and several of my papers were scattered all over the tiny room, making it look like a twister had ripped its way through here.

“ _I can have Aidan help clean this up later after school?_ ” Leif offered.  “ _I’m supposed to be punishing him for that C in Science anyway._ ”

“O-okay,” I accepted, feeling so incredibly low as I stared at the blacked out screen of my desktop computer that had taken quite a large chunk out of my savings to purchase from a pawn shop just for the sole purpose of talking to my new mate.  It was definitely money well spent because while talking on the phone sufficed just enough because I got to listen to Dakota’s soft, warmhearted voice, the second I got to talk to him via video chat I nearly froze in awe and wonder at his smooth skin that begged to be caressed by my hands… frowning, I looked down at my calloused hands that had lots of dirt caked underneath the fingernails.  I bet Dakota’s hands are like marble from all the expensive lotions his father can provide for him.  For some reason, thinking of his father made me grimace.

_It’s because he’s turning my Pup against us_ , my inner wolf snarled.  _He told Dakota not to give his address to us._

Oh yeah, he did do that.

I don’t understand why though.  I’ve never hurt anybody (on purpose), and I’ve been a productive member of the Sabine County Pack for the past ten years.  I’ve been on my best behavior and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m the best man suited for taking care of my sweet, perfect Dakota.  I mean sure, I may not have loads of cash like his folks, but I have a heart full of love and endless devotion just for him— one cannot put a price tag on those, right?

The stench of my, *ahem, sexual release seemed to be a lot stronger in my office than the rest of my house, making me cringe in shame since I had no doubt in my mind that my brother and nephew could pick up on it.  Luckily, Leif slumped out of the office, leaving me along with my wallowing thoughts as I sniffed at the air.

“What did you do?” I groaned to my inner wolf, knowing that he must’ve been mischievous while he was in momentary control.

_What needed to be done_ , he smugly answered and I knew that had he been an apparition that I could’ve see, he’d be devilishly smirking at me.

“What do you mean…” I trailed off when my confused eyes landed on the brightly wrapped present that I’d gotten for my mate for his seventeenth birthday.  It was no secret that I didn’t have a lot of money, so I figured that the most thoughtful gift I could get him would be one from the heart and from my hands.  So I’d utilized all of my patience and had asked a few of the older pack members how to knit a sweater.  I’d spent hours making one for my Baby, constructing one out of dark purple wool since I think that color would look really nice on him.  Then I’d spent almost a full hour trying to perfectly wrap it up in a box, having immense trouble folding the wrapping paper down over the corners of the box just right.  

Everything had to be perfect for him.

However, my headache morphed into a full-grown migraine as I stared down at my previously-nicely wrapped box that was now all shredded up and poorly taped back together.  The stench of my cum wafted out from the sweater I’d made for Dakota and I threw my head back in exasperation over my inner wolf’s antics.

“Really?” I spat, my hands trembling from the anger that was beginning to boil up inside my stomach.

_I want other wolves to know he’s off limits_ , the wolf shrugged, sounding as if him jizzing all over my present was a heroic act that I should be commending him for.  _You can’t honestly stand there and say that you’re not into Pup covered in our cum._

Well…

The thought of my Dakota sprawled out on my bed, covered in my cum and smelling of only me did make me hard.  Yeah, I am into that.  However, I didn’t want him to think that I’m all sneaky or weird by giving him a sweater coated in my cum!  There’s no way I can ever recover from that.  No, when we make love it’ll be because the time is right and because I’d managed to successfully court my mate, making him fall just as madly in love with me as I am with him.

_Boring!_ my inner wolf yelled out.  _You just wait, Caleb, because when my Pup gets here, the very second the sun sets, I’m gonna make my move._

I decided to ignore him as I made my way out of the office and into my bedroom, closing the door shut behind me so that I could get dressed for the day.  I have a decent job as a day laborer, performing odd jobs here and there.  It’s nothing luxurious, but it pays the bills and will allow me to take care of my mate if he decides that he doesn’t want to work after high school.  To be honest, I kinda hope he won’t get a job so that I can take care of him.

My wolf started to get a little irked that I was ignoring him, so he decided to taunt me like he sometimes does because he’s a total dick.  

_You just wait, Little Caleb_ , he teased, _the very second my Pup walks in through that front door, I’ll take over and have him bent over the kitchen table.  And he’ll take my cock right then and there and he’ll be screaming out “Daddy!” the entire time.  He’ll be like, “Caleb, who?”_

I swallowed down a growl so that he wouldn’t gain the satisfaction of getting on my nerves.  I shuffled through my dresser drawers, searching for my good work pants that have a small tear at the knee, so it doesn’t matter if they get further ruined.  My inner wolf and I have been at odds for quite some time now.  Being a werewolf, there’s sort of two occupants to a body in a way— that’s how I like to explain it to humans.  There’s the dominate side: Me, the side who maintains humanity of the body and is in complete control a majority of the time.  Then there’s the animalistic side: The Inner Wolf, the part who is ruled by canine and baseline instincts, such as feeding and fucking.  Normally, the inner wolf will have the ability to surface and be called upon so that the werewolf can “Phase” from their human form into their wolf form.  However, when in their human form, the inner wolf can communicate to the werewolf and will often times have the instincts show on the surface through the actions of the werewolf, i.e. growling, snarling, howling.

_I’m gonna stuff him full of my cum, and my knot’s gonna latch him to me all fuckin’ day.  And when you regain control, we’ll be all done and he’ll far too sore to put up with your pathetic ass!_

I used to be a rogue.  It was just my brother and me, roaming around the wild lands of Texas, doing whatever we wanted and living without any sort of regulations from the human world.  I must admit that it was like paradise, performing my daily activities based on my sole animal instincts: hunting for my food and digging out caves for my shelter.  I’d had a blast and I’d loved being outside int he fresh air twenty-four/seven.  Then after Leif had found his mate, Erin, who’d been a human, he’d told me that we should join a pack so that he could court her better.  Since Leif was the only family I’d had, after much deliberation and inner turmoil, I’d joined the Sabine County Pack ten years ago with him, being assigned the title of omegas since we were previous rogues.  That meant that I went from basically being a wild animal who lived life on his own accord to having to abide by pack laws and human regulations.  

_And then I’ll do it the next night.  Each and every night when you’re incapacitated, I’ll have my way with my Pup.  And you and I both know that I won’t be a little bitch like you… I’ll be dominate and in total control.  Maybe he’ll go from calling me “Daddy” to calling me “Sir”._

No, I want Dakota to call me, “Daddy”— um, *ahem, I mean, I’m not going to let my inner wolf get to me.  Besides, Dakota’s weirded out attitude has made it crystal clear that he’s not interested in calling me “Daddy”, so I won’t force him to.  I want him to be happy with me.  And who knows? Maybe later on down the road, he might call me it, especially during a hot session of making love while I’m deep inside of him and he’s panting out, “Daddy, harder!” and I’ll obey and thrust even harder into his tight hole— er, yeah.  Maybe I do want him to call me, and not my inner wolf, Daddy.

Anyways, after I’d joined the pack, my life had significantly changed.  No longer was I hunting, I was now sleeping indoors, I wasn’t running through the woods anymore, I had to wear clothes while in human form, I had to learn how to speak like a human, I had to control my growling in public… There were a lot of adjustments I had to make in life.  Plus, humans use this stupid thing called “Money” that makes it very difficult to live, and it was increasingly obvious that I’d needed some of it.  Therefore, I’d enlisted in the Marine Corps, which had greatly assisted me in my transition from a feral werewolf into a productive citizen belonging to a civilized society.

_And during the day when he’s with you, he’ll be begging for his Daddy all day long.  He’ll like me way more than you._

I’d believed that I’d adjusted to pack and human life fairly well, however, my inner wolf had hated it.  He’d loved the outdoors and being wild way more than me, so when it’d been virtually taken away from us, and especially with the fact that we had now lived on the lowest rung of the social ladder in the pack, he’d rebelled against me.  I don’t know how he did it, nor am I familiar with other cases of this occurring, but he’d managed to find a way to take control of my body far more than an inner wolf should.

_And then I’ll fill him up with my pups, and we’ll all quit this stupid pack together and go back to being rogues._

Every night, from sunset to sunrise, my inner wolf takes control of my human form.  He managed to find a way to suppress me underneath the moonlight to the point where I have no memories of whatever he does at night while in full control.  At first, I’d wake up next to fresh kills consisting of bears and deer, far away from my Post while I’d been enlisted in the military.  No matter what I’d done, I’d been unable to contain him— he was too strong for me.  He’d gotten me medically discharged from the Marines, and now I have to only work days to ensure he doesn’t cost me a job.  He’s ruining everything that I’ve worked so hard for ever since I’d joined a pack.  Hence, I’m very nervous now that I have a human mate.

_Although, I do need to admit, and I’m sure you will too, that our little boy has a bit of an attitude problem_ , my inner wolf commented, a smirk detectable in his voice.  _Wouldn’t you agree?_

I flinched at the mention of my boy’s attitude, but resumed getting ready as I yanked my dirty work boots on.  I don’t know what angle my inner wolf’s trying to play at, but yes, even I have to agree that Dakota has a bit of a mood.  However, I’m very empathetic to that and know that it’s probably because of his lousy father’s method of bringing him up.  I’ve read about it before: Some parents being far too lazy to spend time with their children, so they use money instead of love.  My poor mate’s just a victim of circumstance.  But I’m positive that with a great deal of patience and tenderness, he’ll come to realize that my love for him is much more valuable than any fancy electronic device.

_That’s stupid_ , my inner wolf snorted.  _You just wait and see, I’m gonna hunt down the biggest deer in the forest just for my Pup, and he’ll see that his Daddy loves him enough to provide him with whatever his heart desires._

It’s not stupid; besides, I have a carefully thought out and precise plan:

Step 1: Maintain constant contact with Dakota by calling/video chatting with him everyday.  Make sure to ask how his day went because I am genuinely interested and want to make sure he’s doing well.  Also, offer to help him out with his homework and the Werewolf Courses so that he can see how helpful I am.

Step 2:  When Dakota comes to live with me, set him up in my bedroom while I take the couch.  That way, he’ll realize that I only want to take care of him and will never hurt him in any way… and maybe he won’t notice if I get my scent all over the bedsheets beforehand so that it clings to him (What? I never claimed that I was perfect).

Step 3:  Show Dakota that I’m a provider and protector by paying the bills and making sure that he feels safe all the time.

Step 4:  Tastefully flirt with Dakota.  Maybe walk around the house shirtless and make sure to comment on how beautiful he is everyday.  However, make sure to avoid being overtly sexual so that I don't come off as a desperate pervert.

Step 5:  Make sure to tell Dakota that I love him every single day.  And when he finally says it back, carry him into the bedroom where we’ll make sweet love and he’ll take my knot.

Step 6: Live happily ever after.

That’s it.  If I follow those six steps, then I’m almost guaranteed to have Dakota fall in love with me.  I can’t wait until he’s here with me.  As for his little attitude problem, that’s nothing that time and restraint won’t solve.  I love my mate with all of my heart, and I can tell how dedicated he is to his family.  That proves how loyal and loving he can be— and one day, I’ll be on the receiving end of that love.  I’ll come home from work every day and have him excitedly rush up to me where I’ll take him into my arms and refuse to let him go.  And then I’ll take him to our bedroom and make love to him… and maybe fill him up with my pups.  It’ll absolutely be fun to start a family with my mate.  Anything Dakota wants, I’ll find a way to get it for him because he’s my mate and I’m his wolf.  It’s my duty to provide and protect the love of my life, and I cannot wait until he’s here for me to do so.

And Dakota is so cute, I cannot stop staring at the photo of him that I’d received with his packet of information from the government.  And when we speak on the phone, he sounds so innocent and pure— everything I’m not.  I’m a dirty omega who’s still adjusting to human culture and pack life, while also dealing with an unstable inner wolf.  Meanwhile, he’s a gift from an upstanding family who is cultured and who is very headstrong.  And he’s all mine!

That last part gets me all giddy.

_Well, you didn’t ask…rude,_ my inner wolf interjected, _but here’s MY plan that we will no doubt use instead of yours:_  

_Step One_ _: Get Pup here sooner by finding a way to him so we can steal him away._

_Step Two_ _: Fuck Pup until he can’t see straight._

_Step Three_ _: Fuck Pup in public so the entire Pack knows he’s mine._

_Step Four_ _: Fuck Pup again._

_Step Five_ _: Quit Pack and keep Pup all to myself so I don’t have to share him with anyone._

_Step Six_ _: Punish Pup if he gives me any kind of attitude._

Punish?! What the hell? While I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the rest sounded a bit appealing, especially all the sex with Dakota (fuck, I’m rock hard now), I wasn’t too keen on my inner wolf punishing him in any way.  Like I’d mentioned before, he’s not as up to date on human culture as I am.

But then again… there did exist a sick, twisted part of me that nearly blew my load at the thought of having Dakota bent over my knee as I spanked him, and he called me “Daddy”.  My inner wolf might just be in on to something, but there’s no way I’m going to allow him near my mate all by himself.  Which was why I’ve come up with a foolproof plan with Leif.

_What plan?_ my inner wolf demanded.

I fought back a smirk as I trudged out of my bedroom and snatched my keys off the banister to make my way out to my truck.  I might have fucked things up with Dakota yesterday by having him see my inner wolf take over my body, but I can make it up to him.  I promise that I will.

I promise that from here on out, I will be the man that Dakota deserves, and I will wait on him hand and foot, ensuring that he falls in love with me.

_And I promise that I will fuck him senseless and give him a spanking whenever he gets out of line_ , my inner wolf added.  _Because Pup needs to know that Daddy’s in charge.  Come to think of it, so do you, Caleb._

Okay, that’s it!

I paused in the walkway, snapping my face to stare down at the mirror that hung on the wall, narrowing my eyes at… myself.  “I won’t let you anywhere near my mate!” I growled, baring my teeth at my reflection, sort of feeling like an idiot since I was technically arguing with myself.  Still, my face was crimson with rage and I could see my fangs protruding out of my mouth.

My eyes flashed yellow in some sort of defiant act from my inner wolf.

_Oh poor, big-foreheaded Caleb_ , he taunted.  _You seem to forget that once the sun goes down, I’m in charge.  And you won’t be around to stop me from getting my paws all over my Pup.  I’ll do whatever I want to him because he’s mine._

I couldn’t suppress the growl that bubbled up from my chest.  The protective instincts inside of me grew with red hot intensity and I nearly phased on the spot; but I had to pause and take several deep breaths to calm myself down.  I can’t phase right now, especially at the teasing of my inner wolf.  He wants me to lose control so that I can be in my wolf form where he’ll have more power.  He’s manipulative and cunning like that.  And how clever of him to use our mate as bait to lure me out.

_I wasn’t using Pup as bait_ , he countered.  _I was being honest: Pup is mine, and I will own him the very second he walks in through that door.  And to be perfectly honest, I hope Pup misbehaves for me, because I’ll have loads of fun showing him how tough and strict Daddy is.  And I’ll make sure he has a bit of fun too._

Yeah, I hope he’s a naughty boy who needs his Daddy to lay down the law too… uh, I mean, I need to protect Dakota; that means that when he comes to live with me, I have to do everything in my power to keep my inner wolf locked away.

_Pup’s mine, Caleb.  And when he’s here, his Daddy’s gonna show him how a real wolf treats his mate._

**（＊о＊）≡☆**   
****

**[Dakota, Present Day]**   
****

The bedroom door slowly squeaked open, startling me from my hiding spot underneath my bedsheets.  Ever since the creepy video chat with Weirdo yesterday, I’d straight up refused to leave my bedroom… damn, I’d even pissed in a discarded Pepsi bottle so I wouldn’t have to risk leaving the security of my sanctuary.  My computer remained off all night— I mean, what the fuck was wrong with him?

“Dakota?” Dad asked, his voice all scratchy from an all-nighter of drinking.  “A-are you getting ready for school?”

Fuck school!  That place sucked ass before Caleb ruined my life, and now that word had gotten out that I was mated to a damn werewolf, it feels like even more of a prison due to my newfound forced isolation.

“Um, *cough, I’m sick,” I pretended, trying to make my angelic voice as gravelly as possible.

Dad snorted, probably not believing my lie.  Whatever.  “Fine,” he muttered, “just make sure you do some of those online courses.”

“Yeah… sure,” I mumbled, having absolutely no intention of doing that bullshit whatsoever.  Come on, Caleb had fuckin’ morphed into some fuzzy, wild-eyed monster on screen the other night!  And he looked me dead in the eye like I was his prey or something!  Oh hell to the no!  There’s no way I want anything to do with that werewolf; his fangs were like skewers!  They were legit ready to shred me up into little pieces for him to have with his caviar… or whatever he can afford.  Ritz? Ugh, I’m way too valuable for those!

“Okay, well, I’m gonna lie down for a while and then I’m gonna take Enrique out for coffee.  Will you be fine by yourself?”

I wanted to tell Dad about the video chat I’d had with Caleb yesterday, to fill him in on the sudden change in mood and appearance of the werewolf… but, when I opened up my mouth to do so, I could barely form the words.  The intense yellow glare and gleaming white fangs were burned into my brain, being pretty much the only things I could focus on.

“Um, c-can I come?” I sadly asked, even going so far as to slowly poke my head out from underneath the covers to flash my award-winning smile at him.  It sometimes works whenever I need him to buy me a new video game or TV.

My dad looked really pale, and he was still in the same clothes from last night with his shirt all the way unbuttoned.  He rubbed at the stubble on his sickly face, shaking his head.  “No, you need to stay home in case What’s-His-Name calls,” he groaned.  “Just talk to him for five minutes, that’s all I ask.  It’ll stop him from bothering me.”

I’ll definitely have to get back to my dad making me talk on the phone to a werewolf, but first I want to know how in the world Caleb’s been bugging him.  Last time I checked, I was the one who was now technically the legal property of a wolf-man!

“What did he do to you?” I blurted, even cocking my eyebrow with attitude (a trademark of mine).  Then again, it could actually be possible that Dad;s annoyed that Caleb’s trying to steal me, his only child, away from him to No-Man’s-Land, a.k.a. Texas.

Dad shrugged, resting a majority of his weight on the door jam.  “Nothing yet, but why risk it?” he grumbled.  Oh, okay then.

Pursing my lips in irritation, I figured that now was a better chance than none to let Dad know what had happened.  Hey, if I could somehow prove that Caleb was unstable/unsafe, then perhaps I wouldn’t be forced to go live with him.  “Um, hey, Dad—”

“Ugh, Dakota,” Dad gritted through his teeth, pinching the skin above his nose, “your voice is not helping my hangover.  I gotta take some Tylenol.”  He turned around and stomped down the hallway after slamming my bedroom door shut behind him.

Or not.

Son of a bitch!  I shoved my face down into my pillow and fought back a scream so that I wouldn’t make Dad’s headache even worse.  This is such a terrible situation that I’ve found myself in, and I have no idea how I’m going to get out.  The only thing that honestly comes to mind is to be a rebel.

I perked up on the bed in extreme surprise at the fantastic idea I’d just had.

I just need to show Caleb and the rest of the world that I am a strong-willed and independent young man who is capable of taking care of himself without the need of a werewolf at all.  In order to prove that, I just need to remain strong-minded and refuse to take part in any werewolf B.S., starting with those stupid online courses.  Pfft, I don’t even do my real homework from school, so why on earth would I bother to do government-mandated homework? Haha, as if!

I can just misbehave as much as possible up to the point where Caleb will be completely disgusted and want nothing to do with me whatsoever.  I mean, what kind of grown man wants a teenager with an attitude problem? None that I can think of.  He’ll be so turned off since he won’t have time to put up with my ‘tude, and then I’m free.  I mean, it’s not like he’ll gain some sick satisfaction over have me be a bit naughty.

And I knew the perfect way to begin the Era of Misbehaving Dakota was by contacting Timothy Riley, the cigarette-smoking, annoying guy who’d told me that he wanted to be my man back in freshman year.  At first, I’d turned him down because his dad… ugh, I almost tear up over this, but his dad had bought him a used car for his birthday.  Not brand new, but used.  What kind of child abuse is that?!  Anyways, I can put that disgust aside for now and message him online to come pick me up and hang out since he’d dropped out of school last year and therefore probably didn’t know about my affliction, a.k.a. Caleb.

Then all I have to do is chill with Timothy all damn day and make sure Caleb finds out somehow, that way he’ll want nothing to do with me at all.  It’s the perfect idea, and I kind of wish I put as much thought as I do with scheming into my schoolwork.  Whatever though.  At the end of the day, if Caleb thinks that I’m some ill-behaved, bad boy who doesn’t respect the rules of relationships, then he’ll ditch me like garbage.  I can totally ride in a, *shudder, used car for a few hours if it means I’ll have a lifetime of freedom.  I have to take the good with the bad.  Plus, it’s not like I said I’ll whore myself out— it’ll be an “innocent” day with a friend who just so happens to want my nuts (but there’ll be no touching involved).

It’s a brilliant plan— holy crap, I am a genius.


End file.
